The Acacia Tree, The Sacred Vine & The Midianites

We are told that the....loading of the ships very heavily with marvels of the country of Punt;

"all goodly fragrant woods of God's-Land, heaps of myrrh resin, with fresh Myrrh trees, with ebony and pure ivory, with green gold of Amu, with cinnamon wood, khesyt wood, with two kinds of incense, eye-cosmetics, with apes, monkeys, dogs, and with skins of the southern panther. Never was brought the like of this for any king who has been since the beginning�

The identity of the Plants, Animals and products of the Land Of Punt has always remained a mystery but during the coarse of the past few years and during the analysis of the various inscriptions and mostly the walls mural of Hatshapsut and by studying the plants and animals and the gifted produces in more accurately than what the earl ear Archeologist's had.

According to Sayyid al-Qimni, Egyptian historian and thinker in his massive four Volume Arabic books intuited "Prophet Moses & The last days of Tell Al Amarneh" from page 239 - 363 suggests the Arbian Pennsula and particularly the region of south Jordan.

Also according to Dimitri Meeks in a well researched paper called "Locating Punt" explain in 2011how the hypothesis of an African location for the land of punt is based on extremely fragile grounds. He suggests Arabia for Punt location.

He explain:�The territory of Punt began quite close to that of Egypt, once Sinai had been crossed, in Arabia Petraea or the Negev. It inc operate, probably in a rather imprecise manner, the whole coastal zone of the Red Sea dowel as far as present day Yemen and the actual heart of Punt probably correspond more or less to Yemeni Tihama."

Evidence from the ancients

The first clear mention of Punt comes from the Old Kingdom. As the so-called Palermo Stone tells us, about 2500 B.C. during the reign of King Sahure, an expedition to Punt returned with 80,000 measures of 'ntyw, which scholars believe to be myrrh. Derived from a tree of the same name, myrrh is a resin used to make incense, which the Egyptians coveted for temple rituals; myrrh was the most prized commodity from Punt. Sahure's expedition also brought back 23,030 staves�wood being precious to a desert country like Egypt�and 6,000 measures of electrum, a natural alloy of gold and silver, among other items.

In the time of Pepi II, a certain pepynakht was entrusted with a delicate mission:

"so, His Majesty, my master sent me to the land of the Asiatics, so that i might bring him back the Unique Companion, the Captain (?), the overseer of interpreters Anankhta, who was assembling (sp) a kbnt-ship there in order to travel to Punt, when the Asiatic-dwellers-on-the-Sands killed him together with the armed detachment which was accompanying him." (Sethe 1903:134,13-14)

The scene of this tragedy can be seen at the coast of the Red Sea near the Asiatic dwellers on the sand where this person was killed while the assembling of the ship that was destined to sail to Punt. A location at the end of the gulf of suez would seem to fit best with the text. This clearly show that the scene of the tragedy must have been near Egypt and in a region Asiatic Bedouins.

By the Middle Kingdom, expeditions to Punt had become pyramidal in scope. One inscription from about 1985 B.C. mentions an expedition of 3,000 men; another a half century later boasted 3,700 men. Again, Punt's location is not given. Where did the ships go on the Red Sea after they set sail from Saww? No one knows.

Today, scholars have convincingly shown that Middle and New Kingdom pharaohs bent on Punt constructed their ships on the Nile, then disassembled them and carried them 100 miles across the desert from Koptos, the place where the Nile comes closest to the Red Sea. They then reassembled them at the ancient Red Sea harbor of Saww (today Mersa Gawasis) and sailed to Punt. On the return, they unloaded the ships at Saww and transported the goods by donkey caravan back to the Nile, where they loaded them onto other ships for the journey south to the capital at Thebes.

Actually the site of Mersa Gawasis �port� was very important port in the Middle Kingdom. Several stealer have been found there dating to the first half of the 12th dynasty contain references of Punt. From the quantity and coherence of these written sources, the amount of enigmatic objects/products and the aired and isolated nature of Mersa gawasis location indicate that this site was on one of the routes to and from Punt by boat.

The inscription also inform us that the voyages which were connected with �the mine of Punt� (pB n pwnt) rather than punt. (according to Gardiner 1952) and it seems that the location of this mine could have been at any point in the red sea coast. Many objects where found in this site including unfinished anchor, pegs, pieces of rope, along with fragments of copper alloy chisels.

The site or port mersa gawasis seems to give the ancients the choice the outwards journey without problems. Because if the ship departed from a further north point from the Gulf of Suise hoping to reach the gulf of aqaba will not be able to make it. Because inexperienced Alius Gallus (Aelius Gallus was the 2nd prefect of Roman Egypt in the reign of Augustus during the years 26�24 BC.) attempted that rout and he lost his fleet ship and suffered serious damage to the rest of his fleet, from making the direct route round Ras Muhammad.

So all ships that left Egypt should land or sail towards the Arabian Peninsula somewhere between Aynunah and Jar in the south. From there ships could sail back up the Arabian coast in small stages, mostly rowing so as to reach the gulf of Aqaba in trance.

Whats interesting, one their return from the Gulf of Aqaba winds a currents would again carry the ships towards the Egyptian coast in the area of Mersa Gawasis.

The last expedition to Punt that we know of occurred under Rameses III, in the 12th century B.C. An ancient papyrus records that Rameses III "constructed great transport vessels ... loaded with limitless goods from Egypt. ... They reached the land of Punt, unaffected by (any) misfortune, safe and respected." And they returned safe and respected.

The details in Harris (Papyrus Harris collection in the British Museum) of an expedition sent by Ramsesses III to punt reinforce the impression that the northern end of this gulf of Suez, in all periods of the year, provide a favorable point of departure for long distance expedition.

Ramesses III (1186 to 1155 BC) writes regarding his expedition that he sent to Punt:�I built great ��.which were equipped with countless crewmen. Landen with products beyond number from Egypt��(and then) sent to the great Sea of Nuqed, they reached the mountains of Punt without any misfortune befalling them ��.�

Ramesses does tell us that they sailed on the �Great Sea of muqed� in order to reach Punt. Muqed is usually understood as two words, mw kd, meaning the revers water (the sea that flows backwards) which seems to mean the Sea that goes from south to North. Which allouds to the currents of the Gulf of Aqaba , which are the reserve current of the Nile.

Another important detail, Muqed appears in several series of toponym devoted to Syria-palestine, at Aksha, Amara and soleb. All these names were closely linked to Punt.

A Papyrus from the region of Ramsses IX confirms that this land was bordered by the sea, and it was inhabited by Shosu Bedouin. And this lead us to Sinai with the Gulf of Aqaba coasts.

So in conclusion we do know many of the routes taken to reach punt. It could certainly be reached by boat from the Red Sea. During the Old Kingdom this involved crossing the desert east of Memphis to the Gulf of Suez, or Mersa Gawasis or setting off from the Sinai and then thought the so called King's Highway. And it seems that during the Middle Kingdom and afterwards, when the kingdom capital moved south, the Red Sea journey to Punt originated from the port of Quseir.

The Acacia Tree, The Sacred Vine & The Midianites

There are three Acacia tree species in this region: The “Acacia tortilis subsp. raddiana” (Bedouin: Sayyal), Umbrella Thorn Acacia “Acacia tortilis subsp. tortilis” (Bedouin : Samar, Samarah) and giant Talh. Many parts of the tree including roots, shoots, and pods are also often used by natives for a vast number of purposes including tools, and medicines. It is believed that exposure to the Acacia smoke relieves rheumatic pains.

The Acacia was considered sacred in the Old Testament, and it was forbidden to use its wood for any secular purpose, such as building homes or making furniture.

The Acacia tree was also sacred to the Arabs, who used its wood to make idols ...of their deity Al Uzza. The ancient traditions of Arabia suggest that the goddess Al Uzza resided in the Acacia tree (Shajarat Samarat). According to The Book of Idols by Hisham al-Kalbi, an arab built a house called “Buss” over Al Uzza groves, in which people used to receive communications from the oracle.

Another shepherds deity also believed to reside in a tree was Egyptian Hathor. Interestingly, Hathor was worshiped by the Midianites, who where also associated with the Acacia tree "Ayka" near the gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea.

One of the titles of Osiris was 'He that Dwelleth in the Acacia Tree'.

It is believed that the chemical substance DMT found in many Acacia species can produce a powerful psychoactive effect, causing revelatory mind states with profound spiritual and intellectual ramifications.

In the Arabian and Islamic tradition, the Midianites name were associated with the semi-parasitic plant that grows on top of the Acacia tree. This plant is known as Ayka or Aika (Arabic.) The Aika grows in a vine that resemble a coiled snake. When in full bloom, the vines produce red flowers that, when seem from a distance, create the illusion that the tree is on fire. Thus, according to some Hebrew sources, the Loranthus acaciae vine is called the burning bush.

Could it be the the tribes looked at the semi-parasitic plant that grows on top of the Acacia tree as a symbole of the holy spirit or the higher consciousness that descends from the heavens only to the big, wise and mature. (the semi-parasitic plant only grows on top of the giant big Acacia trees)??

However, the association between the Aika and the Midianites is rarely touched upon by the scholars.

The Midianites & The Sacred Vine

In the history of region, there was a tribe directly associated with a historically entheogenic plant. This tribe was known by the name of Midian.

Midian is the geographical location on the Red Sea and Sinai. It is the place where Moses spent his voluntary exile after killing the Egyptian. While there, Moses married the daughter of a shepherd and holy man a "Shaman" a "Plant Herbalist" named Jethro "Shu'ayb,". The Islamic tradition speaks extensively about the people the Midianites who have special relation with a tree "Ayka", who went astray at the end of their era.

According to the Biblical account, the Midianites were nomadic shepherds who traveled across the desert in small bands with their goats and camels. They lived in tents made of goat hair, and their diet was primarily composed of dairy products, and bread baked in hot charcoal and sand. The Midianites were rich in camels, incense and gold. They were the craftsmen largely responsible for constructing the Ark of the Covenant using Acacia wood (Hebrew: Shittim) in the Wilderness for Moses.

To the Shaman the Acacia tree with its semi parasitic vine symbolizes the path of the fire spirit that rises from the base of the spine to the apex of the skull (similar to the concept of Kundalini). Alchemists in the Middle Ages, who derived their science primarily from the Arabs, spoke about the "Fire" necessary in all alchemical operations, and they also spoke about a “Living Silver”: a spiritual water, symbolized as a serpent of quicksilver.

According to Manly P Hall in his book, The Secret Teachings of All Ages: “Certain plants, minerals, and animals have been sacred among all the nations of the earth because of their peculiar sensitiveness to the astral fire - a mysterious agency in Nature which the scientific world has contacted through its manifestations of electricity and magnetism. Lodestone and radium in the mineral world and various parasitic growths in the plant kingdom are strangely susceptible to this cosmic electric fire, or universal life force.”

The vine Loranthus-acaciae (Bedouin: Ayka, Aika and also Anamah) which grow on top of the acacia trees as semi parasitic plant. To the shaman, the flowering Loranthua “Ayka” on top represents and symbolized the Holy Spirit, the higher consciousness that descends on one self from the heaven. “Al Ayka” can also be seen as a coiled snake. The Olive like fruits of the vine Loranthus-acaciae.

So what were the Midianite priests or shamans exactly doing?

In order to better understand the Midianites' use of the Ayka vine and its hostess the Acacia tree, we turn to a similar practice that has been well documented and researched in the forests of South America.

Today, many spiritual seekers travel to Peru to work with Ayahuasqueros, shamans who engage in the ritual use of ayahuasca. The psychedelic ayahuasca tea is used to cure everything from depression to addiction. When taking ayahuasca, participants frequently report meeting spirits and receiving divine revelations.

Ayahuasca is a name of various psychoactive infusions or decoctions. It is prepared from the Serpent-like plant called the “Banisteriopsis spp. vine,” mixed with the leaves of dimethyltryptamine-containing species of shrubs from the Psychotria genus. The brew was first described academically in the early 1950s by Harvard ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes, as being used by the Amerindians of Amazonian Colombia for divinatory and healing purposes,
Ayahuasca is also largely used as a religious sacrament among indigenous peoples like the Urarina of Peruvian Amazonia and several other tribes in south America. It is used in the religion of Santo Daime: a syncretic spiritual practice founded in the 1930s in the Brazilian Amazonian state of Acre.

In south America sections of B. caapi vine are cut and boiled alone or with leaves from any of a number of other plants, including Psychotria viridis (chacruna) or Diplopterys cabrerana (also known as chaliponga). The resulting brew contains the powerful hallucinogenic alkaloid N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and MAO inhibiting harmala alkaloids, which are necessary to make the DMT orally active. This is a sophisticated concoction, whereas the removal of only one of the ingredients would metabolize the substance in the digestive tract and thus would have no effect on the brain.

It should be noted that brews can also be made with number of DMT containing plants. Psychotria viridis could be substituted by plants such as Justicia pectoralis, Brugmansia, or sacred tobacco (also known as Mapacho, or Nicotiana rustica.) The potency of the Ayahuasca brew varies radically from one batch to the next, both in potency and psychoactive effect, according to the skill of the herbalist.

In North-East Arabia and at Midian, the ayahuasca analogue seems to have been prepared with the harmla seed and the Acacia tree. The Harmala serves as a substitute for the ayahuasca vine, while the DMT-rich Acacia replaces the Amazon chakruna plant.