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Egyptian Artifacts

Wooden Model Boats

I absolutely love the wooden 𓆱𓏏𓏺 tomb π“‡‹π“«π“Šƒπ“‰ models. I could literally spend hours just looking at them!

Wooden 𓆱𓏏𓏺 models were very popular in the Middle Kingdom and were usually put in tombs π“‡‹π“«π“Šƒπ“‰. The boats 𓂧π“Šͺπ“π“Šžπ“¦ were symbolic, and were meant to help the deceased on their journey in the afterlife 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐. When a person died, their body was carried in a boat 𓂧π“Šͺπ“π“Šž across the Nile π“‡‹π“π“‚‹π“…±π“ˆ—π“ˆ˜π“ˆ‡π“Ί in a symbolic representation of the journey of the soul π“‚“- from the land of the living to the land of the dead 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐. This directly mirrors Ra’s 𓇳𓏺𓁛 daily journey across the sky π“Šͺ𓏏𓇯.

Tombs usually contained two 𓏻 boats 𓂧π“Šͺπ“π“Šžπ“¦: one sailing in a northward direction, and one sailing in a southward direction.

So many wooden 𓆱𓏏𓏺 model boats 𓂧π“Šͺπ“π“Šžπ“¦ have been found because boats 𓂧π“Šͺπ“π“Šžπ“¦ were essential to daily Egyptian life along the Nile River π“‡‹π“π“‚‹π“…±π“ˆ—π“ˆ˜π“ˆ‡π“Ί. Boats 𓂧π“Šͺπ“π“Šžπ“¦ were not only essential for transporting people, goods and construction materials, but also for the gods π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉ and their journeys as well.

This particular boat 𓂧π“Šͺπ“π“Šž is so beautiful π“„€ because so many of the oarsmen are there!