Sahure. The Egyptians traded with an area of Africa called Punt as early as Dynasty 5 (circa 2500-2350 B.C.E.) and maintained contact with it until the end of the New Kingdom (circa 1539-1075 B.C.E.). Punt was located on the east coast of Africa in present-day Ethiopia and Sudan. The earliest reference to trade expeditions to the region is found in the reign of Sahure (circa 2485-2472 B.C.E.). In this reign the Egyptian king received eighty thousand units of incense as well as electrum (a natural compound of gold and silver) and two other (untranslatable) commodities. An inscription from the reign of Djedkare Isesi (circa 2415- 2371 B.C.E.) records the arrival at the royal court of a dancing dwarf imported from Punt. The same reign records that bedouins had destroyed Egyptian boats built for the...