Page 1 of 1

PUNT VESSELS of around 1500 B.C.

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 8:01 pm
by aukepalmhof
On many stamps the ships used by Queen Hatshepsut for her expedition to the land of Punt (Somalia) are depict.
The ships are shown on a relief sculpture at her temple at Deir-el-Bahri, which shows us 5 ships.
Not much is known about the construction of the wooden hull of the ship. The stem is bending upward and decorated with a lotus blossom, while the stern in straight.
Deck beams protrude in a long line through the side and securely locked between the planks. So as to give the necessary strength athwardships.
She did have two large steering oars one on port the other one starboard of the stern.
Carried a large square sail on a mast stepped roughly amidships; the mast was stayed with two forestays and a stay aft, but no shrouds.
The sail was set between two long spars; most probably the sail was lowered to the deck by lowering the upper spar.
The yards could be set via vangs or braces to get the best resistance offered to the wind, not possible to tack, the best wind for sailing were from astern.
The type was fitted out against hogging by tension ropes (truss) running above the deck. The truss was twisted downward by a twisted rope near the mast.
The ship could be rowed when there was no wind by 15 oarsmen on each side.
Length between 18 – 24 metre, length on waterline 13.5 metre, beam around 5 metre, carried around 85 tons of cargo.

Antigua 1991 $4 sg1503, scott?
Barbuda 1991 $4 sg1291, scott?
Bulgaria 1975 1s sg2435, scott?
Cambodia 1993 250R sg1309 scott1292
Egypt 1926 5/15m sg138/143, scott?, 1969 20m sg1031, scott?, 1977 20m sg1309, scott?. 1995 15p sg1965.
Guinea Bissau 1988 50p sg1054, scott?
Libya 1963 100dh sg1305, scott? 1993 50dh sg2142, scott?
Poland 1963 5gr sg1370, scott?
United Arab Emirates 1974 20m sg?, scott?

Source: Sailing Ships by Björn Landström and various web-sites.

Re: PUNT VESSELS of around 1500 B.C.

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:07 pm
by aukepalmhof
By Egypt and Singapore in 2011 in celebration of the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations a joint stamp issues was released.
The stamp feature the significant rivers of the two nations, the Nile River and the Singapore River.
Both rivers are closely associated with the evolution of both countries..

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is 6,650 km (4,130 miles) long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.

The craft depict on the stamp is a punt vessel.

Egypt 2011 2LE sg?, scott?
Singapore 2011 $2 sg?, scott?

Source: Singapore Post.