The Meluhhaites or Puntites of East Africa

By

Clyde A Winters, Ph.D

The ancient Dravidian people lived in Kush. From here they spread across Asia and Europe to found many important ancient civilizations, including the Hrappan civilization of the Indus Valley.

The Mesopotamians applied the term Meluhha to ancient Kush and Punt, the countries below and east of Egypt according to Samuel Noah Kramer, in The Sumerians ( University of Chicago Press, 1963, pp.276-285). The Akkadians, according to Kramer said that Meluhha was “the place of black men” (see p.277) . Since the Sumerians were called the “black headed” people, the reference to Meluhha as the land of the black man probably refers to Kush-Punt as the original homeland of the Sumerians. This was also the homeland of the Dravidans as supported by the discovery of similar styles among the Kushites and Harappans.

Note Braided hair and Headband on Harappan

Note Braided hair and Headband on Kushite

Black-and-red pottery from Nubia, the Indus Valley and South Indian Megalithic sites. The pottery from the Megalithic sites have Indus Valley characters on them as noted by B.B. Lal.

The first mention of the Meluhha in Egyptian texts were written during the rule of Ramses II letter to the Hittites (KUB III 52) where he mentions that he was ending men of Meluhha to the Hittite royal court. During this period and later periods Meluhha=Kashi (Kush).

In many text written by Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal the terms Kashi and Meluhha interchange repeatedly (see: W.F. Albright, “Magan,Meluha and the synchronism between Menes and Naram-Sim, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol.7, pp.80-87). The Assyrians frequently referred to the Meluhha as salmuti ‘black’. The Meluhhaites according to the inscriptions of Sargon II (c. 712 BC) mention the “bowmen, chariots and horses of the king of Meluhha”, together with the Egyptians fought the Assyrians in Palestine. Later the Assyrian king Assurbanipal of Assyria, noted in his inscriptions that he “ marched against Magan (Egypt) and Meluhha (Kush) in order to defeat the armies of Tarku (Taharqa), king of Egypt and Kush (D. Potts, “The road to Meluhha”, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 41(4) (1982) pp.279-288).

Kramer believes that Dilmun was the name the Sumerians called the Indus Valley. This name Dilmun~Dilmon could have been pronounced as *teļmaņ This view is supported by the fact that part India was called Dilmun. An important part of North India-Pakistan is Saurastra. This was a major center of Harappan civilization and the Brahmana Dravida (R. Thapar,p.185-86).

The Harappans or Dilmunites often wore braids and a headband. The braids and headband was a common feature of the Kushites.

The must significant evidence of the relationship between the Meluhhaites and Harappans is the headband worn by the Harappan priest-king, and the headbands worn by the Meluhhaites-Puntites recorded on the Hatshepsut mission to Punt and the Kushite soldiers.

Harappan Priest KingNote Headband tied in back like Meluhhaites of Punt

Puntites/ Meluhhaites loading the Hatshepsut Vessels Note Headbands

Kushites in Egyptian Army Note Headband

Egyptian Soldiers

In summary Meluhha was located in Africa. Meluhha would correspond to the ancient African nations the Egyptians called Kush-Punt. Dilmun was probably the name of the Indus Valley civilization. Since original home of the Dravidians was Kush, it was natural that many of the Harappans wore headbands and braids like their Kinsmen from Kush-Meluhha.

This view is supported by the place name located in Northern India in Kathiawar. The fact that these areas were known as centers of the brahmana Dravida support the view that the Dravidians founded the Indus Valley civilization, and explains close relationship between Sumerian and Tamil, since the original speakers of these languages formerly lived in Meluhha or ancient Kush the home of the “black men” according to the Assyrians and the Akkadians..