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the land of Punt, to fetch for the king sweet-smelling spices.' He started with 3000 men, well armed and carefully provided with water, which was carried in skins on poles. Through the valley of Hammamat he pressed on rapidly to the sea; there he embarked, after offering up rich sacrifices. 'I brought back,' he says, 'all kinds of products, and I brought back precious stones for the statues of the temples.'
The route between Koptos and the Red Sea continued to be a highway for commerce down to the days of the Greeks and Romans.
