ABSTRACT
A considerable amount of Middle Kingdom textual evidence indicates that the trip to Punt began at ancient Coptos on the Nile, and proceeded along one of the traditional roads leading through the Eastern Desert to the Red Sea. Beyond the requirements of the natural environment, the Hatshepsut reliefs have been closely read for clues regarding the cultural traits of the Puntites. The Punt landscape is not dominated by a royal figure, lending to the southernmost wall of the Middle Colonnade the appearance of multi-register miniature scenes of expeditions and tribute in private tombs of the New Kingdom. The feature of a high degree of visual specificity, and the effect of a pastoral landscape, are reflected in Egyptian royal. Thus, the questions that arise from analysis of the Punt reliefs need to be examined as much from an art historical as from a geographical, ethnographic or biological perspective.
