The Punt Ship of Pharaoh Sahure

Year: 2540 BC
Category: Ancient
Vessel Type: Merchant Ship
Scale: 1/8" = 1 foot
Overall Length: 65 feet

As early as the 26th Century B.C. The Egyptians built sturdy ocean-going ships, like this one, to travel to the land of Punt in search of Myrrh, Gold, Ivory, and Ebony.At one time the Egyptians traded with the Punt peoples, pound for pound, salt for gold.

The Egyptians sailed the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and then down the coast of Africa to the "Land of Punt" which lay along the central African coast. Punt voyages took about 2 years to complete and the Egyptians kept the location so much a secret that scholars are still unsure of Punt's location. Maritime scholar-historian Bjorn Landstrom believed the location was up the Zambezi river where explorers in the 1800's found all of the flora and fauna attributed to Punt from ancient Egyptian writings as well as played out gold mines.

Punt voyages were carried on for over a thousand years with the most famous one's being conducted by Queen Hatshepsut during the 18th Dynasty (see her ship in the Warther collection as well).