Egyptian Gallery Egyptian Boat Model (tactile)
Synopsis
Egyptian Gallery: Egyptian Boat Model. Sedment, Egypt; 2160-2025 BC; wood; 60 cm long by 11 cm wide and a total of 58 cm high including the height of the mast which is 29 cm.The earliest boats were made from reeds and later from wood. Water travel was both a part of daily life and an important religious symbol.Large ships transported heavy building stone hundreds of miles along the Nile. Cargo boats carried grain.Broad barges carried cattle from one side of the Nile to the other. Pharaohs travelled by royal barge. The sun-god Ra travelled across the sky by boat. The Egyptians sometimes left the Nile (via the river's mouth) to sail on the Mediterranean or the Red sea but mostly stayed close to the shore.
This boat model is over 4000 years old. It was placed in a tomb to speed along the owner's journey to the afterlife and for them to enjoy sailing there.
The boat has a flat bottom with the pointed bow (front) and stern (back) curved upwards so that they would have been out of the water. The stern is raised slightly more than the bow. About a third of the way along the boat from the bow is a mast with a furled sail wrapped around it. Ropes are attached to the top of the mast and tied at the bow and stern. The sail also has ropes attached for raising and lowering it.
At the stern is a large brown steering oar and immediately in front of this oar is a white canopy on four legs. The flat white deck of the boat has 8 male figures, painted with dark brown skin, white kilts, black wigs and white and black eyes, are either standing or sitting on it, mostly in pairs, and all facing the bow.
At the bow is a standing man who is holding a large white stone with black markings attached to a rope that would have been used to test the depth of the water. Behind him, just in front of the mast, are two men standing with oars laid across the deck immediately in front of them. In the centre of the boat are two men sitting holding oars as if rowing. Behind these are two men standing with their arms outstretched as if rowing. Behind these is the canopy and at the stern is a single seated man who has an oar in his hands. The oars are brown with a white paddle that is roughly diamond shaped.
The tactile image shows five of the eight figures and is roughly half the size of the actual object. The boat is shown with solid texture with a rough texture for the flat deck. The figures are shown in outline with solid texture for their black wigs, a texture for their kilts, no texture for their skin and a spot for their eyes. The oars, masts and legs of canopy are shown as solid texture. The sail, stone and canopy are shown with a different texture. Fine lines show the ropes from the mast and sail.