Hatshepsut’s name had reached as far as the circuit of heaven and encompassed the great circle (the sea)

Hatshepsut's Trading Expedition to the Land of Punt

Hatshepsut had a peaceful reign, she concentrated on trade rather than conquest, the walls of her temple shows her famous trading expedition to the Land of Punt, now known as Somalia. To indicate their willingness to submit to an Egyptian sovereign the people of Punt showered the Egyptians with gifts for Hatshepsut. Their gifts included gold and ivory, great heaps of precious balsams and incense for the temples, animals plants and trees for transplantation on the Egyptian soil,  this is recorded on the punt colonnade, where small African houses are shown standing on wooden stilts, beautiful tropical birds are carved flying across the sky and lots of varieties of fish are recorded

Hatshepsut’s name had reached as far as the circuit of heaven and encompassed the great circle (the sea) the best of myrrh was upon her limbs and her fragrance was of divine dew, whilst her odour was mingled with the land of Punt. Her skin was gilded with electrum that shone like the stars at night

Foreign lands were regarded as the personal property of The Goddess Hathor, and the goods that the Egyptians obtained from these countries were considered to be gifts from Hathor, so the return to Thebes with all the treasures from Punt would have been the cause for great celebrations. Now that her reign was strengthened and successful, Hatshepsut made plans with her architect Senemut to build herself a Mortuary Temple fit for a King, and so her unusual three storied columned temple rose up the side of the Theban Mountains of El Dier El Bahari. When looking at a map I realized that the temple with its entrance ramps is in direct line with Karnack Temple the House of Amun on the East Bank, Sheshat the Goddess of the Cosmos guided the priests with her skills of the stars and heavens, the temple is also aligned to the winter solstice sunrise, which in our modern era occurs around the 21st or 22nd of December each year.

Originally Myrrh trees lined the entrance ramps and its lower terrace up into the temple; these were the trees that had been sent from the expedition to punt and are shown being transported in large baskets on the reliefs in the temple.