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Model Sailboat

Middle Kingdom
ca. 1981–1975 B.C.
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 105
The green color of the hull of this boat, its vertical prow, backward-curving stern and double steering oars imitate elements of vessels made from papyrus stalks. Even the lashings of the leather sheaths that covered prow and stern of such boats are rendered. Boats of this particular type appear in representations of the "pilgrimage to Abydos" that was part of the Egyptian funerary ritual from the Middle Kingdom onwards. The ritual character of this boat trip is clearly demonstrated by the fact that not the living Meketre but a statue sits under the baldaquin accompanied by a companion (possibly his son), while priests perform offering rituals in front of it. The basic idea of a trip to the major cult center of the god Osiris at Abydos, where the god's death and resurrection were celebrated, is however maintained by the presence of two boats: one that is rowed northward from Thebes to Abydos (20.3.5), and another (the present boat) that is just setting out on the back trip its (missing) sail being hoisted by the men in the center, while a single sailor pushes it off the embankment with a forked pole.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Model Sailboat
  • Period: Middle Kingdom
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 12
  • Reign: reign of Amenemhat I, early
  • Date: ca. 1981–1975 B.C.
  • Geography: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Southern Asasif, Tomb of Meketre (TT 280, MMA 1101), MMA excavations, 1920
  • Medium: Wood, paint, plaster, linen twine, linen fabric
  • Dimensions: L. 145 cm (57 1/16 in.), with rudder 158 cm (62 3/16 in.); W. 28 cm (11 in.), with mast 81 cm (31 7/8 in.); H. 53.4 cm (21 in.), with mast 112 cm (44 1/8 in.)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1920
  • Object Number: 20.3.4
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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Model Paddling Boat, Wood, paint, plaster, linen twine, linen fabric
Model Paddling Boat
ca. 1981–1975 B.C.
Travelling Boat being Rowed, Wood, paint, gesso, linen twine and linen fabric
Travelling Boat being Rowed
ca. 1981–1975 B.C.
Model Sporting Boat, Plastered and painted wood, linen, linen twine, copper
Model Sporting Boat
ca. 1981–1975 B.C.
Model of a Granary with Scribes, Wood, plaster, paint, linen, grain
Model of a Granary with Scribes
ca. 1981–1975 B.C.
Hatnefer's Chair, Boxwood, cypress, ebony, linen cord
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ca. 1492–1473 B.C.

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