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.

What are the participants?

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.

What is the queen of Punt?

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.

What is the goods returned?

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.

What is religious significance?

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.

What is the Sehel graffito of Ti?

Near the First Cataract at Sehel island, a graffito left by the official Ti records participation in a Nubian campaign under Hatshepsut. This is treated as the clearest single piece of evidence that fighting, not just administration, took place in Nubia during her reign.

What is fragments from Tombos and Deir el-Bahri?

Damaged inscriptions and relief fragments from Tombos (a fortress site upstream in Nubia) and further fragmentary military scenes from Deir el-Bahri itself preserve traces of a Nubian campaign narrative, including imagery of bound Nubian captives. Their poor state of preservation is itself significant: Thutmose III's later proscription of Hatshepsut's monuments likely destroyed further material of exactly this kind, meaning the surviving military record probably understates the true scale of her activity.

What is habachi and Redford's argument?

Labib Habachi, examining the Sehel and related material, argued that Hatshepsut campaigned in Nubia, and that she may have travelled south with the expedition herself rather than sending it under a general's command alone. Donald Redford reaches a similar conclusion: the evidence points to genuine military engagement in Nubia during her reign, not merely inherited garrison administration.

What are maintenance of garrisons?

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

What are comparison with other reigns?

Thutmose I had reached the Fourth Cataract; Thutmose III continued extensive Nubian activity after 1458 BC. Hatshepsut's Nubian campaigning was smaller in scale than either, but the Sehel, Tombos and Deir el-Bahri evidence shows it was real, not merely defensive.

NESA Practice (NESA)-style practice: Explain Hatshepsut's foreign policy. Support your response using one source.

A 7-mark response needs Punt, Nubia, Sinai, and the historiographical debate. **Punt expedition (year 9 of Thutmose III's reign).** The major trade expedition to Punt (probably modern Eritrea or Somalia) is depicted on the second terrace of Deir el-Bahri. Five ships sailed via the Red Sea. Goods returned: gold, electrum, ebony, ivory, leopard skins, baboons, and 31 incense trees transplanted to the temple gardens at Deir el-Bahri. The expedition was led by Nehesi, the Chancellor. Punt was presented as a divinely sanctioned mission ordered by Amun-Re. **Nubian campaigns.** Inscriptions from her reign record campaigns in Nubia. The autobiography of Ineni and several other officials mention Nubian activity. A graffito at Tangur and another at Sehel record a Nubian campaign in regnal year 12. Hatshepsut may have personally led at least one Nubian expedition. **Sinai mining.** Turquoise and copper mining at Serabit el-Khadim in Sinai continued under her reign. Inscriptions in the Hathor temple at the site record her name and titulary, naming officials who supervised the operations. **The historiographical debate.** Older scholarship (James Henry Breasted, early 20th century) treated Hatshepsut's reign as militarily inactive, contrasting it with the energetic Asiatic campaigns of Thutmose III after 1458 BC. More recent work (Joyce Tyldesley 1996; Donald Redford) recovers the evidence for Hatshepsut's Nubian and Asian activity and treats the reign as actively engaged. The picture of a "peaceful" reign was partly the result of Thutmose III's later proscription and partly of Breasted's interpretive bias. **Trade rather than conquest.** Compared with Thutmose III's later 17 campaigns into Syria-Palestine, Hatshepsut's reign emphasised trade over conquest. The Punt expedition was the signature foreign-policy moment. Markers reward Punt, Nubia, Sinai, and the historiographical debate.

NESA Practice (NESA)-style practice: Outline the evidence for the Punt expedition.

A 4-mark outline needs the source, the date, the participants, and the goods. **Source.** The Punt expedition is depicted in a relief series on the second terrace of the Deir el-Bahri mortuary temple, dating to around year 9 of Thutmose III's reign. **Participants.** The expedition was led by Nehesi, the Chancellor. Five ships sailed via the Red Sea, probably setting off from a port on the Wadi Gasus or further south. **Punt and its queen.** The reliefs depict the queen of Punt, named as Ati, in distinctive costume. The Egyptian artists rendered her with steatopygia (a posterior fat distribution), interpreted variously as a medical condition or a stylistic convention. **Goods returned.** Incense trees (31 transplanted to Deir el-Bahri), gold, electrum, ebony, ivory, leopard skins, live baboons and other animals, exotic produce. **Religious significance.** The expedition is presented as ordered by Amun-Re and brought home as an offering. The "divine land" of Punt was a mythical-religious as well as a geographical destination. Markers reward the source, Nehesi, the queen of Punt, and the goods.

§-Syllabus dot point

NSWAncient HistorySyllabus dot point

What was Hatshepsut's foreign policy and trade activity?

Hatshepsut's foreign policy and trade, including the expedition to Punt, the campaigns in Nubia, the management of Sinai mining, and the wider question of whether her reign was militarily peaceful

A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on Hatshepsut's foreign policy. The Punt expedition (year 9) recorded at Deir el-Bahri, the Nubian campaigns, Sinai turquoise mining at Serabit el-Khadim, and the debate over whether the reign was militarily quiet or actively expansionist.

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What this dot point is asking

NESA expects you to describe Hatshepsut's foreign-policy activity (Punt, Nubia, Sinai) with named sources, and engage with the debate over whether her reign was militarily peaceful or actively expansionist.

The answer

The Punt expedition

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.

The source: 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 participants: 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.
The queen of Punt: 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 goods returned: 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.
Religious significance: 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.

The military evidence for Nubia (usually underplayed)

Older textbook summaries reduce Hatshepsut's Nubian record to a single throwaway line, but the surviving evidence, though fragmentary, is a genuine cluster that several historians treat as proof of at least one real campaign.

The Sehel graffito of Ti: Near the First Cataract at Sehel island, a graffito left by the official Ti records participation in a Nubian campaign under Hatshepsut. This is treated as the clearest single piece of evidence that fighting, not just administration, took place in Nubia during her reign.
Fragments from Tombos and Deir el-Bahri: Damaged inscriptions and relief fragments from Tombos (a fortress site upstream in Nubia) and further fragmentary military scenes from Deir el-Bahri itself preserve traces of a Nubian campaign narrative, including imagery of bound Nubian captives. Their poor state of preservation is itself significant: Thutmose III's later proscription of Hatshepsut's monuments likely destroyed further material of exactly this kind, meaning the surviving military record probably understates the true scale of her activity.
Habachi and Redford's argument: Labib Habachi, examining the Sehel and related material, argued that Hatshepsut campaigned in Nubia, and that she may have travelled south with the expedition herself rather than sending it under a general's command alone. Donald Redford reaches a similar conclusion: the evidence points to genuine military engagement in Nubia during her reign, not merely inherited garrison administration.
Maintenance of garrisons: Egyptian fortresses along the Nile in Nubia (Buhen, Mirgissa, Semna) continued to function under Hatshepsut, sustaining the administrative and military system left by Thutmose I.
Comparison with other reigns: Thutmose I had reached the Fourth Cataract; Thutmose III continued extensive Nubian activity after 1458 BC. Hatshepsut's Nubian campaigning was smaller in scale than either, but the Sehel, Tombos and Deir el-Bahri evidence shows it was real, not merely defensive.

Sinai turquoise expeditions: Serabit el-Khadim

Turquoise and copper mining at Serabit el-Khadim in the Sinai Peninsula continued under Hatshepsut, sustaining an economic activity that stretched back to the Middle Kingdom.

The Hathor temple. The site's temple, dedicated to Hathor as "Lady of Turquoise," carries inscriptions bearing Hatshepsut's name and full titulary, alongside inscriptions naming the officials who organised and supervised individual mining expeditions.

What the expeditions demanded. Sending workers, soldiers as escort, and officials into the Sinai desert required real organisational capacity: provisioning water and food for a hostile environment, coordinating with desert routes, and maintaining royal authority far from the Nile valley. This was a standard royal economic activity rather than a military campaign, but it demonstrates active foreign-policy reach into Egypt's desert margins, not passivity.

Levantine trade: Byblos and cedar

Egypt's building projects, including Hatshepsut's own temple works, depended on a steady supply of cedar timber from the Levantine coast, most famously through the port city of Byblos (in modern Lebanon), which had supplied Egypt with cedar since the Old Kingdom. Continued trade contact along this route under Hatshepsut fits the same pattern as Punt and Sinai: an active, organised program of resource acquisition through trade and diplomatic relationships rather than conquest.

Syria-Palestine

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 clear evidence of major campaigns in the region.

Possible explanations include: Egyptian regional dominance was already established and did not require active intervention; the political situation in Syria-Palestine was relatively stable during her reign; Hatshepsut's foreign-policy preferences were oriented toward trade and the Red Sea rather than land conquest; sources of military activity have been lost or destroyed in the later proscription.

The historiographical debate: pacifist queen or normal 18th-Dynasty policy?

Older view (Winlock; Breasted, early 20th century): Herbert Winlock's influential early reading, echoing James Henry Breasted, cast Hatshepsut as a peace-loving, trade-and-building queen, a "pacifist" contrasted with the energetic Asiatic campaigning of Thutmose III after her death. This view rested heavily on the prominence of the Punt reliefs and the apparent absence of a major Syrian war narrative.
Modern view (Redford; Tyldesley; Habachi): Donald Redford and Joyce Tyldesley argue the "peaceful queen" picture is overstated. It was partly a product of interpretive bias (reading a female pharaoh as naturally unmilitary) and partly a product of Thutmose III's proscription having erased much of Hatshepsut's military commemoration. Read against the Sehel, Tombos and Deir el-Bahri evidence, and Habachi's argument for personal Nubian command, the reign looks like a NORMAL 18th-Dynasty foreign policy: trade as the dominant, best-publicised strand, PLUS the limited, real use of force to secure the southern frontier when required, rather than a uniquely pacifist exception.
Comparative scale: Even on the modern view, Hatshepsut's military activity was modest compared with Thutmose III's later campaigning. The trade-oriented Punt expedition, the Sinai mining program and Levantine trade remain the signature, best-documented foreign-policy moments; the Nubian campaigning is real but secondary in scale and in the surviving record.

Hatshepsut's foreign policy at a glance

Region	Activity	Source
Punt (Red Sea)	Year 9 trade expedition, Nehsi's command	Deir el-Bahri Punt reliefs
Nubia	At least one campaign, possibly led in person	Sehel graffito of Ti; Tombos and Deir el-Bahri fragments
Sinai (Serabit el-Khadim)	Continued turquoise/copper mining	Hathor temple inscriptions
Levant (Byblos)	Cedar timber trade	Continuity of long-standing Egyptian-Byblos trade relationship
Syria-Palestine	Limited/no clear campaign evidence	Contrast with reigns of Thutmose I and Thutmose III

Modern historians

James Henry Breasted (A History of Egypt, 1905) and Herbert Winlock are the source of the older "peaceful Hatshepsut" view, built substantially on the prominence of the Punt reliefs.

Joyce Tyldesley (Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh, 1996) recovers the evidence for a more active foreign policy and reads the surviving military record against the effects of Thutmose III's proscription.

Donald Redford has examined the wider New Kingdom imperial system, argues for genuine Nubian campaigning under Hatshepsut, and treats her reign as a transitional phase within a continuous, expansionist 18th-Dynasty policy.

Labib Habachi analysed the Sehel and related Nubian evidence and argued Hatshepsut personally campaigned, or at least commanded, at least one Nubian expedition.

How to read a source on this topic

Section III sources typically include the Punt expedition reliefs, the Sehel or Tangur graffiti, the Sinai inscriptions, or modern reconstructions of trade routes. Three reading habits.

First, distinguish trade from conquest. The Punt expedition was trade and tribute; the Nubian graffiti suggest military action. Different categories of foreign activity.

Second, watch the proscription effect. Many of Hatshepsut's monuments were defaced. Surviving evidence of military activity may underrepresent the original record. Tyldesley emphasises this.

Third, compare with predecessors and successors. Thutmose I to the Euphrates and Thutmose III's 17 Syrian campaigns provide the comparative scale.

Command words and how to use a source

"Outline"/"describe" just needs accurate content stated plainly - name the source, the date, the participants and the goods/action shown.

"Explain" needs you to say WHY or HOW something worked, not just what happened - e.g. explain how the Punt reliefs functioned as propaganda, not just what the reliefs show.

"Assess"/"evaluate the usefulness" needs all four of: CONTENT (what the source actually depicts), RELIABILITY (is it likely to be accurate - was it made close to the event, by whom, for what purpose), USEFULNESS (what can a historian actually learn from it, and what can't they), and PERSPECTIVE (whose viewpoint - royal/propagandistic art always serves the pharaoh's image, so a Punt relief is useful for what Egypt wanted to show, not necessarily for the Puntite side of the encounter).

Weaving historiography. Do not just list historians at the end. Attach each historian to the specific piece of evidence they are interpreting: "Winlock's pacifist reading rests on X; Redford qualifies this by pointing to Y." A paragraph that names a historian without tying them to evidence earns little.

Structuring a source-analysis paragraph: state what the source shows -> link it to your own knowledge of the event -> assess reliability/usefulness/perspective -> reach a judgement.

Model responses

Model source response (4 marks - "Using the source, outline the goods brought back from Punt").
"The source depicts Egyptian sailors carrying baskets of gold, ebony logs, and live baboons down the gangplank of a ship, alongside potted myrrh trees being carried by two men on a yoke. This matches the historical record of the Punt expedition of year 9, which returned gold and electrum, ebony, ivory, animal skins, live baboons and monkeys, and, most significantly, 31 live myrrh trees transplanted into the gardens at Deir el-Bahri for use as temple incense."
Marker's note: every claim is tied back to what the source shows before being confirmed with outside knowledge - this is what separates "using the source" from merely reciting facts.

Model essay paragraph (extract, "assess the extent to which Hatshepsut's reign was militarily peaceful").
"The Sehel graffito of the official Ti provides the clearest single piece of evidence against a wholly pacifist reading of Hatshepsut's foreign policy: it explicitly places the pharaoh's forces in a Nubian conflict, a claim corroborated by damaged relief fragments from Tombos and Deir el-Bahri showing bound Nubian captives. Habachi reads this cluster of evidence as proof that Hatshepsut campaigned in Nubia, possibly in person; Redford agrees that the military record, though fragmentary, is real rather than incidental. Set against the far larger, better-preserved Punt and Sinai record, this suggests Hatshepsut's foreign policy was not a uniquely peaceful anomaly but a normal 18th-Dynasty combination of dominant trade activity with the limited, targeted use of force where the frontier required it."
Marker's note: the paragraph names two historians, ties each to specific evidence, and reaches a stated, defensible judgement rather than simply asserting "she was peaceful" or "she was warlike."

Exam-style practice questions

Practice questions written in the style of NESA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.

Practice (NESA)7 marksExplain Hatshepsut's foreign policy. Support your response using one source.

Show worked answer →

A 7-mark response needs Punt, Nubia, Sinai, and the historiographical debate.

Punt expedition (year 9 of Thutmose III's reign): The major trade expedition to Punt (probably modern Eritrea or Somalia) is depicted on the second terrace of Deir el-Bahri. Five ships sailed via the Red Sea. Goods returned: gold, electrum, ebony, ivory, leopard skins, baboons, and 31 incense trees transplanted to the temple gardens at Deir el-Bahri. The expedition was led by Nehesi, the Chancellor. Punt was presented as a divinely sanctioned mission ordered by Amun-Re.
Nubian campaigns: Inscriptions from her reign record campaigns in Nubia. The autobiography of Ineni and several other officials mention Nubian activity. A graffito at Tangur and another at Sehel record a Nubian campaign in regnal year 12. Hatshepsut may have personally led at least one Nubian expedition.
Sinai mining: Turquoise and copper mining at Serabit el-Khadim in Sinai continued under her reign. Inscriptions in the Hathor temple at the site record her name and titulary, naming officials who supervised the operations.
The historiographical debate: Older scholarship (James Henry Breasted, early 20th century) treated Hatshepsut's reign as militarily inactive, contrasting it with the energetic Asiatic campaigns of Thutmose III after 1458 BC. More recent work (Joyce Tyldesley 1996; Donald Redford) recovers the evidence for Hatshepsut's Nubian and Asian activity and treats the reign as actively engaged. The picture of a "peaceful" reign was partly the result of Thutmose III's later proscription and partly of Breasted's interpretive bias.
Trade rather than conquest: Compared with Thutmose III's later 17 campaigns into Syria-Palestine, Hatshepsut's reign emphasised trade over conquest. The Punt expedition was the signature foreign-policy moment.

Markers reward Punt, Nubia, Sinai, and the historiographical debate.

Practice (NESA)4 marksOutline the evidence for the Punt expedition.

Show worked answer →

A 4-mark outline needs the source, the date, the participants, and the goods.

Source: The Punt expedition is depicted in a relief series on the second terrace of the Deir el-Bahri mortuary temple, dating to around year 9 of Thutmose III's reign.
Participants: The expedition was led by Nehesi, the Chancellor. Five ships sailed via the Red Sea, probably setting off from a port on the Wadi Gasus or further south.
Punt and its queen: The reliefs depict the queen of Punt, named as Ati, in distinctive costume. The Egyptian artists rendered her with steatopygia (a posterior fat distribution), interpreted variously as a medical condition or a stylistic convention.
Goods returned: Incense trees (31 transplanted to Deir el-Bahri), gold, electrum, ebony, ivory, leopard skins, live baboons and other animals, exotic produce.
Religious significance: The expedition is presented as ordered by Amun-Re and brought home as an offering. The "divine land" of Punt was a mythical-religious as well as a geographical destination.

Markers reward the source, Nehesi, the queen of Punt, and the goods.

Practice questions

Original practice questions graded from foundation to exam level, each with a full worked solution. Try them before revealing the solution.

foundation3 marksSource A: a reconstructed panel in the style of the Deir el-Bahri Punt reliefs, showing five ships being loaded with potted incense trees, and an inscription describing the mission as commanded by Amun-Re. Using Source A, outline TWO features of the Punt expedition.

Show worked solution →

2 marks for two accurate, source-supported features; 1 mark for a single accurate feature.

Feature 1: the scale and method of the voyage. Source A shows five ships, consistent with the Deir el-Bahri record of a five-ship fleet sailing via the Red Sea to reach Punt.

Feature 2: the religious framing. Source A's inscription presents the mission as commanded by Amun-Re, matching the historical reliefs, which frame Punt as the "divine land" (Ta-Netjer) and the expedition as a mission ordered by the god rather than a purely commercial venture.

Marker's note: full marks needs two features explicitly drawn FROM the source (not generic Punt knowledge stated without reference to it).

foundation3 marksOutline the goods brought back from the Punt expedition and their significance.

Show worked solution →

1 mark per accurate good/category named (to 2 marks), 1 mark for stating significance.

Goods. Thirty-one live myrrh (incense) trees transplanted in baskets/pots; gold and electrum; ebony; ivory; panther and leopard skins; live baboons and monkeys; and other exotic produce.

Significance. The incense trees mattered most religiously, since incense was burned at every Egyptian temple ritual; bringing living trees home let Egypt cultivate its own supply at Deir el-Bahri rather than remaining dependent on imports, and stood as a permanent, visible proof of Amun's favour on temple ground.

Marker's note: the trees are the single most commonly tested detail on this dot point. Named goods without the "why it mattered" line caps at 2/3.

core5 marksExplain how the Deir el-Bahri Punt reliefs functioned as propaganda for Hatshepsut's reign.

Show worked solution →

5 marks: explain (not just describe) the propaganda function, with named evidence.

The commission narrative: The reliefs open with Amun-Re personally ordering the expedition, so any success in Punt becomes proof of the god's favour toward Hatshepsut specifically, not just a state trading mission (1-2 marks for this point with evidence).
The tribute framing: The Puntite ruler and his wife Ati are shown bowing and presenting goods, visually recasting a trade exchange as foreign submission to Pharaoh - a stock formula of Egyptian royal art used regardless of the true balance of the encounter (1-2 marks).
Placement on sacred ground: The reliefs run along the second terrace of Hatshepsut's own mortuary temple, meaning every visitor to Deir el-Bahri encountered her foreign-policy success permanently built into her funerary and cult monument (1 mark).
Function for a female pharaoh: Because Hatshepsut's legitimacy was contested by her gender, a spectacular, divinely sanctioned, tribute-yielding expedition gave her a concrete achievement to set beside the male warrior-king tradition of conquest (1 mark).

Marker's note: top responses explain the MECHANISM (how each element builds legitimacy), not just list what the relief shows.

core6 marksSource B: a reconstructed fragment in the style of the Deir el-Bahri fragmentary reliefs, showing Hatshepsut in a chariot before bound Nubian captives, with a partial inscription referring to "the wretched land of Kush." Assess the USEFULNESS of Source B as evidence for Hatshepsut's Nubian policy.

Show worked solution →

6 marks: usefulness requires weighing what the source shows against its limits, with reference to other evidence.

Usefulness: Source B (in the style of genuine fragmentary Deir el-Bahri and Sehel material) is useful because it depicts the pharaoh in an active military role against Nubia, corroborating other fragmentary evidence - the Sehel graffito of the official Ti, which explicitly records a Nubian campaign under Hatshepsut, and fragments at Tombos associated with her Nubian activity. Together, this class of evidence is what Habachi and Redford use to argue she personally led or at least authorised at least one Nubian campaign (2-3 marks).
Limits: Royal art routinely shows the pharaoh personally smiting enemies as a formulaic convention of kingship regardless of who actually campaigned, so the image alone cannot prove Hatshepsut's personal presence. The fragmentary and damaged state of the Deir el-Bahri military material (worsened by Thutmose III's later proscription) means the full narrative context is lost, and "the wretched land of Kush" is a stock phrase applied to Nubia across many reigns, so it identifies the enemy but not the scale or outcome of the campaign (2-3 marks).
Judgement: Source B is moderately useful when read alongside the Sehel and Tombos evidence as part of a corroborating pattern, but is not conclusive proof of personal command on its own (1 mark for a supported judgement).

Marker's note: markers reward naming the corroborating evidence (Ti's graffito, Tombos) and explicitly separating "what the source shows" from "what it proves."

exam8 marksTo what extent was Hatshepsut's foreign policy shaped by trade rather than military conquest?

Show worked solution →

Band-6 plan (8 marks, extended response).

Thesis. Hatshepsut's reign prioritised trade and economic consolidation over conquest, but the older picture of a wholly pacifist queen is overstated; limited military activity in Nubia sat alongside the dominant trade-and-tribute program.

Argument line 1 - the trade evidence is dominant and best preserved. The year 9 Punt expedition (Nehsi's command, five ships, the Deir el-Bahri reliefs cataloguing myrrh trees, gold, ebony, ivory and animals) is the best-documented and most celebrated act of the reign. Sinai turquoise and copper mining at Serabit el-Khadim continued under royal sponsorship, and Levantine trade for Byblos cedar sustained temple-building timber supply. Cite: Deir el-Bahri Punt reliefs; Serabit el-Khadim Hathor-temple inscriptions.

Argument line 2 - military activity was real but limited and probably deliberately underplayed by later evidence-loss. The Sehel graffito of Ti and fragments at Tombos and Deir el-Bahri record Nubian conflict, and Habachi and Redford both argue for at least one Nubian campaign, possibly with Hatshepsut present. Thutmose III's later proscription destroyed much of her military commemoration, meaning the surviving record likely understates the true scale.

Argument line 3 - historiographical weighing: Winlock's earlier "pacifist queen" reading, built on the prominence of Punt and the absence of a Syrian campaign narrative, has been qualified by Redford and Tyldesley, who read the evidence as a normal 18th-Dynasty foreign policy: trade as the centrepiece, PLUS the limited use of force to secure the southern frontier, rather than a uniquely peaceful reign.
Model paragraph: "Winlock's influential early reading cast Hatshepsut as a peace-loving builder-queen, a view resting heavily on the prominence of the Punt expedition and the absence of any grand Syrian campaign narrative comparable to Thutmose III's later wars. This reading, however, undervalues the fragmentary but consistent military evidence: the Sehel graffito of Ti explicitly records fighting in Nubia under Hatshepsut, and damaged reliefs at Tombos and Deir el-Bahri preserve a related campaign tradition. Redford and Tyldesley both argue this evidence points to a conventional 18th-Dynasty foreign policy of trade backed by the selective use of force, not an anomalous pacifism; the proscription of Hatshepsut's monuments by Thutmose III likely destroyed further military commemoration, meaning the true scale of her campaigning cannot now be fully recovered."
Marker's note: rewards a sustained "to what extent" argument (not a for-and-against list), named historians (Winlock, Redford, Tyldesley, Habachi) tied to specific evidence, and a defensible final judgement rather than a fence-sitting conclusion.

exam25 marksESSAY. Assess the contribution of the Punt expedition to Hatshepsut's reign and royal image.

Show worked solution →

A Band 6 essay assesses contribution across several dimensions (economic, religious, political-propaganda) and reaches a weighted verdict. Plan plus model paragraph.

Thesis: The Punt expedition of around year 9 contributed modestly to Egypt's economy but enormously to Hatshepsut's royal image: it supplied the centrepiece of her legitimation program by casting her as the king who reopened the routes to "God's Land" at Amun's own command, and she institutionalised that achievement in stone at Djeser-djeseru. Its greatest contribution was not the myrrh but the message.
Line 1: the expedition itself: Around year 9, a fleet of five ships under the chancellor Nehsi sailed to Punt on the Red Sea coast of eastern Africa and returned with myrrh resin and, exceptionally, live myrrh trees in baskets, along with ebony, incense, gold, panther skins and exotic animals; Djehuty, overseer of the treasury, is shown recording the goods. This was a trading and prestige mission, not conquest.
Line 2: religious framing: The Deir el-Bahri reliefs present the voyage as commanded by Amun through his oracle, with the myrrh trees planted for the god's terraces. Punt's produce fed the incense-hungry cult of Amun, binding the expedition's success to the god who legitimised her kingship, and presenting Hatshepsut as uniquely favoured.
Line 3: propaganda value: By carving the expedition across a colonnade of her mortuary temple, complete with the ships, the marine life of the Red Sea, and the queen of Punt, Hatshepsut converted a single season's trade into a permanent proof of a successful, divinely mandated reign. It answered the implicit question a female pharaoh faced (can she do what kings do?) with a deed in the traditional royal repertoire: expanding Egypt's reach.
Line 4: qualification and balance: Punt voyages were not unprecedented (Middle Kingdom precedents existed and she never claims discovery, only unprecedented scale and direct divine command), and the economic effect of one expedition was limited beside routine Nubian gold and Levantine trade. Tyldesley reads Punt as the jewel of a conventional, competent foreign policy; the older pacifist-queen reading over-weighted it because it ignored her Nubian military evidence.
Model paragraph (line 3): What makes the Punt expedition central to Hatshepsut's reign is where she chose to remember it. Trade returns are consumed and forgotten; a relief cycle at Djeser-djeseru is an argument aimed at eternity. On the temple's middle colonnade the five ships, the stacked myrrh trees and the astonished notables of Punt surround a text insisting that no other king had received such marvels, because no other king was so loved by Amun. The expedition thus did for her foreign policy what the divine-birth cycle did for her parentage: it translated legitimacy into a story with witnesses, cargo and a god's signature.
Conclusion: A modest economic contribution and a major ideological one: the expedition's real cargo was proof that a female king could enlarge Egypt's horizon, and she spent that cargo carefully for the rest of the reign.

Marker's note: "assess the contribution" needs dimensions weighed against each other, not a narrative of the voyage. Band 6 answers use the reliefs as EVIDENCE of intent (names: Nehsi, Djehuty, the queen of Punt), tie Punt to the Amun legitimation program, qualify with precedents and the wider foreign-policy record, and land a clear verdict.