Model Sailing Boat Transporting a Mummy
Unknown Artist
ca. 1900–1885 B.C.
Medium
Wood, paint
Dimensions
L. 80.6 cm (31 3/4 in.); W. 21.2 cm (8 3/8 in.); H. to top of mast 54 cm (21 1/4 in.) Beam L. 23 cm (9 1/16 in.)
Classification
Model Boat
Period
Middle Kingdom
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1932
Accession Number
32.1.124a
Tags
About this artwork
This wooden model sailing boat dates to approximately 1900-1885 BCE during Egypt's Middle Kingdom Dynasty 12 and was discovered in the tomb of Djehuty at Lisht South in the Memphite Region. The model represents a funerary bark transporting the deceased on their final journey. The model depicts a mummified body lying on a bier under a protective canopy, tended by two women playing the roles of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys, sisters of the funerary god Osiris. A group of sailors stands ready by...
Art Historical Context
Step aboard this exquisite wooden model of a sailing boat from Egypt's Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12 (ca. 1900–1885 B.C.), now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Egyptian Art Department. Discovered in 1930–31 in the tomb of Djehuty at Lisht South, this 80.6 cm-long funerary bark captures a sacred moment: a mummified body rests on a bier under a protective canopy, attended by two women embodying the goddesses Isis and Nephthys—sisters of Osiris, the god of the afterlife. Nearby, sailors stand poised to raise the now-lost sail, while four men crouch before the mast, evoking the crew of a re...