recorded in
the world's history. It may be noted that it took place at about the
date usually assigned to Noah's ark.

The town of Coptos was of considerable commercial importance, having
been at one end of the great desert route from the Nile to the Red Sea
port of Kosseir, whence most of the Egyptian maritime expeditions
started. The land of Punt, which was the objective of the expedition, is
now considered to be identical with Somaliland. The following extracts
from the inscription give an excellent idea of the objects and conduct
of the expedition, which was under the leadership of a noble named
Hannu, who was himself the author of the inscription:[4]--

"I was sent to conduct ships to the land of Punt, to fetch for Pharaoh
sweet-smelling spices, which the princes of the red land collect out
of fear and dread, such as he inspires in all nations. And I started
from the City of Coptos, and his Holiness gave the command that the
armed men, who were to accompany me, should be from the south country
of the Thebaid."

After describing the arrangements which he made for
watering the expedition along the desert route, he goes on
to say:--

"Then I arrived at the port Seba, and I had ships of burthen built to
bring back products of all kinds. And I offered a great sacrifice of
oxen, cows, and goats. And when I returned from Seba I had executed
the King's command, for I brought him back all kinds of products which
I had met with in the ports of the Holy Land (Punt). And I came back
by the road of Uak and Rohan, and brought with me precious stones for
the statues of the temples. But such a thing never happened since
there were kings; nor was the like of it ever done by any blood
relations who were sent to these places since the time (of the reign)
of the Sun-god Ra."

From the last sentence of the above quotation we may infer that previous
expeditions had been sent to the land of Punt. Communication with this
region must, however, have been carried on only at considerable
intervals, for we read that Hannu had to build the ships required for
the voyage. Unfortunately, no representations of these vessels accompany
the inscription.

Between the end of the eleventh and the commencement of the eighteenth
dynasty, the monuments give us very little information about ships or
maritime expeditions. Aahmes, the first king of the latter dynasty,
freed Egypt from the domination of the Shepherd King