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Compare Punt Reliefs of Hatshepsut 4:3 and 1 Kings 10:22

Ancient Near East, Egyptian · Hebrew Bible

Summary

Queen Hatshepsut's reliefs show her ships sailing home from the land of Punt, likely in the Horn of Africa, loaded with ebony, ivory, gold and apes. In 1 Kings 10, Solomon's fleet brings back nearly the same cargo: gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.

Passages

Punt Reliefs of Hatshepsut 4:3

Ancient Near East, Egyptian · Deir el-Bahri Punt Expedition Inscriptions

Prosperity be with us, for the sake of the myrrh tree in the midst of God's-Land, for the house of Amon; there is the place where it shall be made to grow for Makere, in his temple, according to command. The loading of the ships very heavily with marvels of the country of Punt; all goodly fragrant woods of God's-Land, heaps of myrrh-resin, with fresh myrrh trees, with ebony and pure ivory, with green gold of Emu, with cinnamon wood, khesyt wood, with ihmut-incense, sonter-incense, eye-cosmetic, with apes, monkeys, dogs, and with skins of the southern panther, with natives and their children. Never was brought the like of this for any king who has been since the beginning.

1470 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Punt Reliefs of Hatshepsut

1 Kings 10:22

Hebrew Bible

21 All of King Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the household items in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest were made of pure gold. There were no silver items, for silver was not considered very valuable in Solomon’s time. 22 Along with Hiram’s fleet, the king had a fleet of large merchant ships that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet came into port with cargoes of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. 23 King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth.

600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Kings

References

“... In the first book of Kings, Solomon's Red Sea ventures are noted in three instances (I Kgs. 9:26—29; 10:11-12, 22, with significant variants in the parallel passages in [...] 8:17-18, 9:10-11, 21); two of these mention Ophir as the destination, while the third merely notes the use of "ships of Tarshish," presumably large "freighters" (like the "Byblos" and "Coptos" ships used by the early Egyptian voyagers to the Land of Punt). [...] This entire enterprise indeed recalls the Egyptian expeditions to Punt, from the time of Sahure (ca. 25th century B.C.) down to Ramesses III (12th century B.C.). The products brought back by the expedition of Queen Hatshepsut in the fifteenth century B.C. included virtually all those sought by Solomon, and many more— incense and incense trees, and such exotic animals as giraffes. [...] Where are these lands to be located? The animals, trees, and products of Punt would all point to the northern coast of Somalia, between Djibouti and Cape Guardafui, and though opinions are divided widely, it is here that the "emporium" of Ophir is preferably to be sought. ...”

Abraham Malamat, History of Biblical Israel: Major Problems and Minor Issues, CHANE 7 (Leiden: Brill, 2001), 204–205.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Punt Reliefs of Hatshepsut10 chapters

Compare Punt Reliefs of Hatshepsut 4:3 and 1 Kings 10:22

Summary

Passages

Punt Reliefs of Hatshepsut 4:3

1 Kings 10:22

References

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