Hatshepsut’s co-regency with Thutmose III was not a period of protracted warfare. There were several Nubian military expeditions that appear to have dealt with local uprisings, but nothing indicates that overall administration of the south by the ‘viceroy and overseer of southern countries’ was interrupted. The viceroy Seni gave way to Amennakht during Hatshepsut’s reign, and the latter ceded to Nehy under Thutmose Ill’s sole rule. At least one other viceroy was in service at the end of Hatshepsut’s tenure, but his name is uncertain. Each of these men not only governed Nubia but also supervised construction projects. They oversaw the delivery of Nubian products as ‘tribute’ to the ruler, but no doubt saw little direct military action.
Hatshepsut’s trade mission to Punt was promoted in Egypt as a major diplomatic coup. The African products that were brought back, along with gold and incense (including the incense trees themselves), stimulated interest in exotic luxury goods. Soon the Nubian tribute-bearers were pictured in private tomb paintings bringing the same items: ivory tusks, panther skins, live elephants, and, of course, gold. It is not entirely clear how the mission to Punt opened more extensive trade to areas of Africa south of Egypt’s control, but it was only after this time that consistent reports of Nubian tribute from the conquered regions were recorded, including lists of the exotic materials obtained.
The possibility exists that Egypt’s connection to the Aegean, as attested by the Minoan paintings at Tell el-Dab'a (Avaris), underwent a change during Hatshepsut’s reign. Although Avaris continued to be occupied until the reign of Amenhotep II, there is no certain indication that Egypt was in contact with Crete following the first part of the 18th Dynasty. Trade may have been maintained through Cyprus and the Levant, however, since imported pottery occurs in some quantities. In the reign of Hatshepsut, when delegations of Keftiu (Minoans, judging from the Egyptian representations) appear alongside other foreign emissaries in mural paintings from Theban private tomb chapels, Egypt may have forged its own trade connection with Minoan Crete or Mycenaean Greece. The consistency of the contact, however, is dubious. Similar paintings in the reigns following Hatshepsut show less familiarity with the dress and trade objects from Crete, and scholars have concluded that the trade contact may have been through Syria-Palestine rather than directly.
World History
