Red Sea navigation was much improved during the sixth dynasty (2587-2459 BC) by the invention of a new kind of rudder. An idea of the extent of sailing at this time can be obtained from a tomb at Elephantine, where a minor official recorded that he and his deceased master had travelled to Punt, no fewer than eleven times. The statement shows that Egypt and the lands to the south were, by then, already in close contact.

The Ethiopian Borderlands
Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century
Copyright 1997 Richard Pankhurst