Punt, also called Pwenet, or Pwene by the ancient Egyptians, was an ancient Sub-Saharan kingdom and a trading partner of Egypt. It was known for producing and exporting gold, aromatic resins, blackwood, ebony, ivory, and wild animals. The region is known from ancient Egyptian records of trade expeditions to it.
At times Punt is referred to as Ta-netjer, the "land of the god".
The exact location of Punt is still debated by historians. Most scholars today believe Punt was located to the southeast of Egypt, most likely in the coastal region of what is today the Horn of Africa.
During the Hellenistic and Roman Period, this civilization became known as Aksum or Ethiopia.
It was the last of the three civilizations of the Nile to fall, after it destroyed its neighboring culture, Nubia, with the sack of Meroë in AD 350.
Expeditions to the Land of Punt[]
The oldest known expedition to the kingdom of Punt was organized by Sahure, which apparently yielded a quantity of myrrh, along with malachite and electrum. Around 1950 BCE, in the reign of Mentuhotep III, an officer named Hennu made one or more voyages to Punt. In the 15th century BCE, Nehesy conducted a very famous expedition for Pharaoh Hatshepsut to obtain myrrh; a report of that voyage survives on a relief in Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari. Several of her successors, including Thutmose III, also organized expeditions to Punt.