DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4862#0109
THE TRIBUTE OF GREATER EGYPT TO AMON
The inhabit-
ants of To
nuter
must be the Egyptian in the rear; for he alone has a red flesh-color. The
red shoulder-tie is unknown to me except, perhaps, as the fastening of
the Libyan's long cloak. It must be that the spokesman wears a very
different dress from his followers. The men are, no doubt, men of Punt
and the adjacent lands; for no deputation is shown in the two registers
above, and both the descriptive notes place their home in To-nuter and
Punt.1 It corresponds to this, that there are two types shown, agreeing
in their dress and complexion, but differing in their mode of wearing
the hair (Plate XXXIV). Three of the men show hair like that of the
inhabitants of Upper Syria; the only one of the other type whose head
is preserved, shows the lanky locks which, though by no means the pre-
vailing mode in Punt after Egyptian influence made itself felt, are found
among its lower classes, and are typical of the country in early times.2
The loki-cloth, again, which is the same for both types, though unusual,
may be closer to the national garb. The pointed flap in front and the
superfluous material gathered up at the back recall the loin-cloth of
Punt; but the form differs slightly and' the triple red stripe on white
material is something quite new. Their flesh-color is a deep red-purple
'To-nuter, "land of the gods," is a name continually used in association with Punt, but applied also
to the mountainous country of Syria whence cedar-wood was obtained. The "terraces" or "alps" which
yielded timber and resinous trees are also ascribed to both countries. It seems probable, therefore, that tree-
covered heights, which in the rainless land of Egypt, where vegetation is confined to the Nile levels, must
seem inconceivable and miraculous, were regarded as a special haunt of the gods (cf. I Kings XX, 28). To-
nuter is, however, primarily the western littoral of the Red Sea, north of Punt proper (ErythreaP). The land
of Amu (c3mw, cm$w and cm$mw) mentioned here, at Deir el Bahri, and elsewhere, in connection with Punt
and the import of electrum, may or may not be related to the better known Syrian Amu ("Amu of Retnu").
Arabia was almost an unknown land to the Egyptians, who perhaps had intercourse with its inhabitants
only through their neighbors on the west coast of the Red Sea. They would therefore be to the
Egyptian merely Bedawin of the desert ("Amu of the waste"), and vaguely pass as a southern exten-
sion of the well-known inhabitants of the Syrian deserts. (Mtiller, Asien und Europa, p. 119, opposes any
such identification, but the passage in Breasted, A.R., I, § 36o rather supports it). The appearance of
Semitic-looking men in association with the men of Punt here would thus be explained. The Amu who
visited Chnemhotpe (Newberry, Beni Hasan, I, PI. XXXI) would be likely to arrive by the desert road from
the Red Sea. In their use of clubs, the riding ass, and their bright raiment, they show southern proclivities.
The difficulty in applying one name to all the Bedawin tribes of the eastern desert from the north to the
extreme south is that southern c3mu land is generally written with the sign Jp, the Syrian c3mu never.
But the spelling here may be that of the country of the Amu.
2Naville, Deir el Bahari, Pis. LXIX, LXX; Borchardt, Sahure, II, PI. V. But such locks are given
to Syrians also in the tombs. A contemporary tomb (No. 276), e. g., shows similar types, clearly northern,
to judge by their products. Borchardt too (ibid, p. 21) finds a Syrian type along with men of Punt which he
cannot identify.
86
The inhabit-
ants of To
nuter
must be the Egyptian in the rear; for he alone has a red flesh-color. The
red shoulder-tie is unknown to me except, perhaps, as the fastening of
the Libyan's long cloak. It must be that the spokesman wears a very
different dress from his followers. The men are, no doubt, men of Punt
and the adjacent lands; for no deputation is shown in the two registers
above, and both the descriptive notes place their home in To-nuter and
Punt.1 It corresponds to this, that there are two types shown, agreeing
in their dress and complexion, but differing in their mode of wearing
the hair (Plate XXXIV). Three of the men show hair like that of the
inhabitants of Upper Syria; the only one of the other type whose head
is preserved, shows the lanky locks which, though by no means the pre-
vailing mode in Punt after Egyptian influence made itself felt, are found
among its lower classes, and are typical of the country in early times.2
The loki-cloth, again, which is the same for both types, though unusual,
may be closer to the national garb. The pointed flap in front and the
superfluous material gathered up at the back recall the loin-cloth of
Punt; but the form differs slightly and' the triple red stripe on white
material is something quite new. Their flesh-color is a deep red-purple
'To-nuter, "land of the gods," is a name continually used in association with Punt, but applied also
to the mountainous country of Syria whence cedar-wood was obtained. The "terraces" or "alps" which
yielded timber and resinous trees are also ascribed to both countries. It seems probable, therefore, that tree-
covered heights, which in the rainless land of Egypt, where vegetation is confined to the Nile levels, must
seem inconceivable and miraculous, were regarded as a special haunt of the gods (cf. I Kings XX, 28). To-
nuter is, however, primarily the western littoral of the Red Sea, north of Punt proper (ErythreaP). The land
of Amu (c3mw, cm$w and cm$mw) mentioned here, at Deir el Bahri, and elsewhere, in connection with Punt
and the import of electrum, may or may not be related to the better known Syrian Amu ("Amu of Retnu").
Arabia was almost an unknown land to the Egyptians, who perhaps had intercourse with its inhabitants
only through their neighbors on the west coast of the Red Sea. They would therefore be to the
Egyptian merely Bedawin of the desert ("Amu of the waste"), and vaguely pass as a southern exten-
sion of the well-known inhabitants of the Syrian deserts. (Mtiller, Asien und Europa, p. 119, opposes any
such identification, but the passage in Breasted, A.R., I, § 36o rather supports it). The appearance of
Semitic-looking men in association with the men of Punt here would thus be explained. The Amu who
visited Chnemhotpe (Newberry, Beni Hasan, I, PI. XXXI) would be likely to arrive by the desert road from
the Red Sea. In their use of clubs, the riding ass, and their bright raiment, they show southern proclivities.
The difficulty in applying one name to all the Bedawin tribes of the eastern desert from the north to the
extreme south is that southern c3mu land is generally written with the sign Jp, the Syrian c3mu never.
But the spelling here may be that of the country of the Amu.
2Naville, Deir el Bahari, Pis. LXIX, LXX; Borchardt, Sahure, II, PI. V. But such locks are given
to Syrians also in the tombs. A contemporary tomb (No. 276), e. g., shows similar types, clearly northern,
to judge by their products. Borchardt too (ibid, p. 21) finds a Syrian type along with men of Punt which he
cannot identify.
86