Quick questions on Hatshepsut's foreign policy and trade: HSC Ancient History

The signature foreign-policy event of Hatshepsut's reign is the trade and tribute expedition to Punt (probably modern Eritrea, Somalia, or south-western Arabia, on the Red Sea coast). The expedition is dated to around year 9 of Thutmose III's reign, the peak of Hatshepsut's pharaonic period.

Hatshepsut's Nubian activity has been recovered against the older interpretation of her reign as militarily quiet.

Turquoise and copper mining at Serabit el-Khadim in Sinai continued under Hatshepsut. The Hathor temple at the site contains inscriptions of her name and titulary, and inscriptions of officials who supervised the mining expeditions.

Egyptian activity in Syria-Palestine is the area where Hatshepsut's reign appears quietest by contrast with predecessors and successors. Thutmose I had reached the Euphrates. Thutmose III after 1458 BC conducted 17 campaigns into Syria-Palestine, beginning with the Battle of Megiddo. Under Hatshepsut, there is no evidence of major campaigns in the region.

The expedition is depicted in a long relief series on the second (middle) terrace of the Deir el-Bahri mortuary temple. The reliefs show: the divine commission by Amun-Re, the loading of ships at the Egyptian Red Sea coast, the journey south, the arrival in Punt, the meeting with the queen of Punt (named Ati), the goods given by the Puntites, the loading of the ships for the return journey, and the welcome at Thebes.

The expedition was led by the Chancellor Nehesi. Five ships, each around 25 metres long, made the journey. The Egyptian sailors are depicted in detail.

Ati is depicted in distinctive costume (a yellow skirt) and with a particular body shape (steatopygia, a posterior fat distribution). The depiction is one of the most-studied images in Egyptian art; its accuracy of physical detail (the fish in Punt waters are identifiable Red Sea species) suggests careful observation by the Egyptian artists.

The reliefs catalogue: 31 incense trees (myrrh trees) transplanted in pots and brought back for the gardens at Deir el-Bahri; gold and electrum; ebony; ivory; leopard, panther, and giraffe skins; live baboons and monkeys; exotic produce; and the people of Punt themselves as tribute.

Punt was the "divine land" (Ta-Netjer). The expedition was presented as ordered by Amun-Re himself and as bringing the produce of the gods back to Egypt. The incense trees in particular were religious offerings: incense was burned at every Egyptian temple ritual.

A graffito at Tangur (in Upper Nubia) records a Nubian campaign in year 12 of Thutmose III, possibly led by Hatshepsut personally. A graffito at Sehel (near the First Cataract) records the same. The autobiography of Ineni mentions Nubian activity.

Egyptian fortresses along the Nile in Nubia (Buhen, Mirgissa, Semna) continued to function under Hatshepsut. The administrative system left by Thutmose I was sustained.

Compared with Thutmose I's reach to the Fourth Cataract and Thutmose III's continuing Nubian work, Hatshepsut's activity in Nubia was modest but real.

Hatshepsut's reign was militarily inactive, a feminine peacetime contrasted with Thutmose III's vigorous campaigning.

The "peaceful" view was the result partly of Breasted's interpretive bias and partly of Thutmose III's proscription having destroyed much of Hatshepsut's military commemoration. Actual evidence for Nubian campaigns, Sinai activity, and possible Syrian engagement supports a more active picture.

Even on the modern view, Hatshepsut's military activity was modest compared with Thutmose III's. The trade-oriented Punt expedition and the religious-economic Sinai operations are the signature foreign-policy moments, not battlefield victories.