Egypt-timeless land of the Pharaohs. Born amidst the sands of the Sahara. a kingdom which derived its power from the River Nile. But legend has it that its first female Pharaoh, Queen Hatshepsut had ambitions far beyond the shores. Her a aim to conquer the sea.at Luxor, in the temple where she's entombed, a bas-relief illustrates the voyage of five royal ships she sent to a land named Punt, returning laden with fabulous riches. "to put a boat on the sea if it's going to float and it's going to make it, say, down to Punt and back is a greater achievement, in many ways, than building a pyramid which just sits there”. did it really happen? Or is it a myth ? for the first time archaeologists will attempt to recreate voyage in a full-size replica of one of those ancient ships. the team's first challenge to figure out how the Queen's ship designers could have built seaworthy vessels nearly 3,500 years ago. "we have to find out in only one year what they have had thousands of years to learn. and it is a daunting task" using only ancient techniques, can they build a boat to withstand the stormy seas? if they succeed, it may help prove the ancient Egyptians navigated the Red Sea to lands far beyond. Hatshepsut's life is shrouded in mystery. she was the first woman to reign over Egypt 1,500 years before Christ and long before Queen Nefertiti and Cleopatra. she governed for more than 20 years during a period of relative peace and prosperity. But after her death, Hatshepsut’s memory was deliberately and savagely destroyed. Murals bearing her portrait were desecrated, temple statues were smashed. No-one know why. The first Queen of Egypt disappeared from official history, taking with he the secrets of her nautical expedition to Punt. Exciting new discoveries by an international archaeological team have revived the debate over Queen Hatshepsut’s seafaring adventures. We thought it would be broken, but it’s complete. So it’s very unique. We found it in an area where there was much domestic activity. I was associated with the fire pit actually, with bones and… So definitely domestic or even, let’s say, culinary activities. The pottery and ceramics excavated here suggest this place was used as a bivouac. Could it have been the base camp for voyages to the mythical land of Punt? Buried in the sand, a set of wooden boxes provides an important clue. The first time I saw these boxes I was… I was truly astonished. We had no idea no idea that anything like this existed, would be here still, after 3,800 years.