After many years of often rancorous debate, Africa’s last, lost, great civilization, The Land of Punt, has been proven to be located in the modern east African country of Eritrea.
Using laboratory analysis of Baboon mummies from Punt found in ancient burials in Egypt scientists have conclusively established that the nearest relatives to the Punt baboons are found in Eritrea on the Red Sea. The closest relatives were found in the hills behind the modern port city of Massawa which lies at the mouth of Zula Bay behind which can be found the ruins of the ancient city empire of Adulis.
In Africa’s Nile Valley civilization known today as Egypt, The Land of Punt was frequently written of as “Punt, the land of the gods”.
From Punt came, amongst other precious goods, Frankincense and Myrrh, which when combined with Onycha, styrax benzoine, an operculom shell found only along Eritrea’s coastline, were used to create the sacred incense used in Egyptian (and Hebrew) temples. Myrrh oil was used to anoint the bodies of the Pharaohs, a requirement for their souls to pass into the afterlife.
From Punt came other trade goods of high value such as gold (from the highlands of the northern African Rift Mountains), salt (still harvested in Massawa and used as currency in much of the region in not so ancient times) and ebony and ivory (ebony wood is found at its furthest point north in east Africa in Eritrea’s western lowlands where even today a herd of elephants still roam).
Such was the prestige of Punt that the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut sent a flotilla of ships there during her reign in the 18th dynasty that some historians claim was an attempt to legitimize a female head of state in ancient Egypt by linking her rule with this most ancient and sacred of lands.
Though the ancient libraries of Africa’s Nile Valley were destroyed by order of the Emperor of Rome in the 4th century A.D. (the burning of the Library of Africa a.k.a. the Library of Alexandria, the greatest destruction of knowledge in the history of mankind) records of Punt going back to the 4/5th Egyptian dynasties remain.
Punt is again found mentioned in the 12th dynasty and of course, found carved into the walls of the Temple of Hatshepsut on the Nile River from the glorious 18th dynasty, where frankincense and myrrh were planted upon the return of the mission.
In later periods Punt became the center of a major maritime trade between first Greece and then Rome.
Known as the “Persepolis of the Erythrean (Red) Sea” (equating Punt with the city of Persepolis in Persia, considered one of the wonders of ancient times is a major mark of respect if not awe) the civilization based in today’s Zula Bay was a critical port of trade between Greece and Rome, and India and the far east.
At one point Rome had a colony of several thousands on the eastern coast of India and a major maritime trade was carried on bringing spices, silks, precious stones, animals and Asian manufactured goods to meet the demand of the Roman Empire. All of this passed through Punt, or as it was later known, Adulis.
History shows that in ancient times, as is still the case today, sailors stick to the west, African, coast of the Red Sea where water is available, safe anchorage easily found and the sudden storms that blow up out of the Arabian Desert do not threaten disaster. When sailing down the Red Sea from present day Egypt or up from the Indian Ocean, landing in Massawa is still a preferred safe harbor.
Today all that remains of this great, glorious, lost African civilization are sand covered ruins a few miles from the coast of Zula Bay where the city empire of Adulis is only now being uncovered.
It is only in the past two decades since Eritrean independence in 1991 that any significant archeological work has begun along the Red Sea coast where once a long lost civilization flourished. In 2006 a British team did a very cursory survey of Zula Bay and discovered at least 4 major maritime complexes (multiple ports to each complex).
This writer is the only historian so far to lay the foundations of a survey of what must be thousands of years of shipwrecks from Punt, the world’s earliest and longest lived maritime civilization, along the windward reefs of the islands lining the channels leading into Zula Bay.
What great discoveries lie under thousands of years of coral reefs still waiting to be discovered? Gold and silver from Greece and Rome headed for India (the Indian’s like the Chinese, had little use for the crude manufactured goods of Europe, forcing Rome to bleed its precious metals in exchange for the precious goods from the east).
Rubies, Emeralds, Sapphires and Jade along with porcelain from the east may still survive though the silks and spices would have long since disappeared.
Much has still to be learned about Punt, but studying modern Eritrean society has already lead to a major breakthrough in historical research with the language of the Nara ethnic group known now to be a survival of ancient Kush, today’s Sudan, and is being used to finally decipher the mysteries of the Demotic scripts.
And what of the lost land of Saba or Sheba, which most historians seem to think lay in the modern land of Yemen?
An Italian linguist has found pre-Arab dialects in remote Yemeni villages that are cousin to the Eritrean language of Tigrinia making a connection between the Land of Punt and Saba even more interesting.
Geez, the “Latin of Africa”, used today in the Eritrean and Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Churches is reputed to have come from Yemen, where today little trace of it can be found.
One must not forget that before the rise of Islam, Christianity spread across east Africa from Egypt in the north, to the pre-Islamic Christian kingdoms of Meroe and Napata (found in present day Sudan, both of which successfully resisted the military invasion of the Islamic armies from the north for hundreds of years) across the Ethiopian highlands to the Christian city empire of Adulis on the southern Red Sea coast.
Time will bring more discoveries and more discoveries will certainly bring more light to Africa’s last, lost, great civilization, Punt, land of the gods.
With all due respect to the researcher, this article is full of errors when it comes to historical references. Consult with Richard Pankhurst, who is an expert in the history of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Geez did not originate from Yemen, it is Ethiopian origin…..
Punt was not Africa’s last great civilization. Many more came after.Mali. Ghana. Songhai. Benin. Zimbabwe. Zulu. Among others.
any organization that chooses to publish any article by Thomas C. Mountain must hire someone to fact cheek his article. anyone that knows East Africa is dam-founded by the willingness of any organization to lend its name by publishing him. it makes me question the accuracy of any other article publish under it’s name.
because someone calls oneself nonindependent, it is no reason to believe. “trust but verify”.
somebody need to tell Thomas Moutain to shutup, some time, he is jornalist sometime he is Archeologist sometime he is an expert of horn of Africa please somebody need to tell this guy shutup!!~~
If true this could be fantastic discovery.For years archeologists were puzzled by this ambiguous word of PUNT.It was mentioned so many times in ancient Egyptian civilizations.The rough location was suggested to be north of the first century civilization of Axumite kingdom.So if it’s not in north Sudan,It can only be in modern day Eritrea.This should solve if not settle many archeological questions.Thanks.
http://www.capitaleritrea.com/insight/tests-reveal-the-land-of-punt-is-eritrea/
There’s no question that the location and history of the Land of Punt remain a matter of great interest to historians, archeologists and anthropologists. I am surprised to read this article on this publication that is “dedicated to providing critical analysis of U.S. foreign policy.” What is the link between US foreign policy and the Land of Punt? Well, that is where Thomas Mountain comes. I’ve followed this guy for more than 10 years. He will use any medium, any label (independent journalist, hostorian, etc.) to continue portraying an image of Eritrea that the repressive and isolationist government in Asmara wants to put forth. This guy has no shame – he has consistently attacked anyone that raised concerns about the abysmal state of human rights erosion in Eritrea. What drives Thomas Mountain and why he’s ignoring that Eritrea has become an African Gulag? He’s on the payroll of the government of Eritrea? Does his marriage to an Eritrean woman has anything to do with his self-serving “journalism?”
Thomas – please leave history to historians and just do what you’re good at: disinformation and attacking people on behalf of one of the most repressive regimes in the world.
Though the story is interesting and the title very attractive, there are several issues that need to be noted:
1. Tigrigna language is not only Eritrean
2. There is as such a civilization that is known to be Adoulis city empire (this is ridiculous) (refer Periplus of the erythrean sea)
3. Elephants were abundant in many areas along the Eastern Africa highlands including the rift valley but what is refereed is the existence of elephants along western Eritrea (is this a proof; what about the ebony? from where was it coming?
4. the history of Eritrea is inseparable from the history of Habeshas or Axumites. As a historian, you are not expected to fabricate History to please somebody.so it would have been very fair if you could have related your story to that of atlesat Northern Ethiopia, the land of Habesha.
First and foremost Mr.Thomas Mountain has every right to write what he has researched, so all of you who have an issue have the opportunity to respond back be it for or against. While history has been cruel to Eritrea including the twisting of facts by historians as well as successive Ethiopian governments, the fact remains that current day Eritrea was once a cradle of civilization. The point that this article makes is simply letiing people know that research has proven and will continue to prove that Eritrea is a place that will forever be intertwined with ancient civilization. Meanwhile people like the gentle lady Adiam Kidane should be ashamed of herself as she does not speak for the majority Eritreans who don’t agree with her lies, the few handful people like her spend days in front of the computer defaming and attacking those who write positive & educational posts about The great nation of Eritrea. Look how she gets nasty with the personal life of Mr.Mountain who happens to be married to an Eritrean. Shame on this lady as it is not in the tradition of the Eritrean people to talk about people. Also as far as her lies about Eritrea the facts are there for people to see, Eritrea today has surpassed all expectations as a nation and has overcome all obstacles and is developing without aid at a very fast rate. Thanks to it’s hard working people Eritrea is slated to be the fastest growing economy in Africa with an projected 7.5% growth for 2012-13. Adiam Kidane who is either a pen name of an Ethiopian or who has no idea how Eritrea is improving the lives of it’s people by first giving the entire country all 9 ethnic groups with different religions, the basic neccesities of life like food security, healthcare & education after so many years of war. The vast majority of the people and the government of Eritrea have a great vision to work together and bring this nation in the forefront of economic boom that will transform it into a competitive market.
Happy 21st anniversary to Eritrea and thank you Mr. Mountain for your dedication and hard work to tell the truth about Eritrea from Eritrea where the horses mouth don’t lie.
“Look how she gets nasty with the personal life of Mr.Mountain who happens to be married to an Eritrean. Shame on this lady as it is not in the tradition of the Eritrean people to talk about people”.quoted from Eritrean American
Thank you Eritrean American for giving us the answer why he has written “quixotic type” History of Eritrea he has written based his shallow knowledge about the history of East Africa. I would have appreciated him very much if he had talked about the red sea cost as part of East Africa not Eritrea of the recent making. Axum Metera Yeha, Adoulis, and the Eritrea and the land of Habesha are inseparable as recorded by several travellers and as documented in Chronicles. But not from the imagination of one person trying to please others by flattering them that they had their own history. The author has tried to detach Geeze from the land of Habesha and tried to attach it to Yemen. How surprising.
“Look how she gets nasty with the personal life of Mr.Mountain who happens to be married to an Eritrean. Shame on this lady as it is not in the tradition of the Eritrean people to talk about people”.quoted from Eritrean American
Thank you Eritrean American for giving us the answer why he has written “quixotic type” History of Eritrea he has written based on his shallow knowledge about the history of East Africa. I would have appreciated him very much if he had talked about the red sea coast as part of East Africa not Eritrea of the recent making. Axum Metera Yeha, Adoulis, and Eritrea and the land of Habesha are inseparable as recorded by several travelers and as documented in Chronicles. But not from the imagination of one person trying to please others by flattering them that they had their own history. The author has even tried to detach Geeze from the land of Habesha and tried to attach it to Yemen. How surprising.
Why did not the author dig the mounds at Metera than digging elsewhere!
Kemal,
For you it may be believable what the history westerners write. If you are to research your own stories and history you must first emancipate yourself from mental slavery and be very suspicious of how one tells a tale. Eritreans who have always believed that they are part of the cradle of civilization will not deny that the entire region was linked by culture and even by trade and also by small wars that sometimes lead to entire villages being destroyed. However one thing remains clear and that Eritrea was always independent. Kemal, did you know that The Adulite Era (9th Century BC- 5th Century AD): For nearly 1,400 years, the Red Sea coastal city-state of Adulis functioned as a major regional centre for commerce and trade. Other important cultural centres also arose during this period in the Eritrean interior, linked by trade with each other and the African hinterland and only now coming under archaeological scrutiny. Among them were extensive settlements circumscribing modern-day Asmara and large sites at Qohaito, Tekhonda’e and Keskse (near Adi keih), at Metera (near senafe) and at Der’a (near Halhal), with more discovered each year. Greek and Egyptian hunting and trading posts were established on coastal and highland Eritrea in the 3rd century BC and later.
Hope this can explain that it is not Mr.Mountain who came up with the facts they have been around and all he is doing is explaining and clarifying FACTS.
Thank you,
EritreanAmerican