ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Model Solar Boat

Possible OriginKom Ombo, Egypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodMiddle Kingdom, Dynasty 12

Date1939-1760 BCE

MediumWood, stucco, paint

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions35 1/4 x 6 x 20 in. (89.5 x 15.2 x 50.8 cm)

Object number2018.010.415

Label TextThis model is a solar boat with a crew and mast added in modern times. Solar boats have no human figures, means of propulsion, and a unique set of boat furniture.

On this solar boat, the original bow and cover are still extant. The striped shrine at the stern originally sat where the kneeling bald figure is now. The falcon on the shrine originally rested on a cylindrical object. The CT scan indicates that this falcon is in its original location but rests on the shrine instead of the cylinder. This was likely a regional variation.

The mast and crew were taken from several sailing vessels. On the Senusret boat, ten figures stand around a central mast, wearing knee-length kilts and short wigs. Their arms are outstretched to adjust the rigging of sails. At the bow and stern, crouching figures face inward, with one arm across the chest in a gesture of reverence toward the seated or mummiform image of the deceased, now lost. They may also have acted as ritual figures or helmsmen on funerary or pilgrimage vessels.

A few model solar boats survive from tombs at Deir el-Bersha, Lisht, and Meir, dating to the reigns of Kings Senwosret II and III. The solar boats were related to royal insignia and ritual objects from private late Middle Kingdom burials and were focused on transforming the deceased into a divine ancestor. By contrast, the sailors come from sailing vessels that depicted a pilgrimage to or from Abydos or the transport of the deceased to the tomb.
Exhibition HistoryMichael C. Carlos Museum, Veneralia 2019 Senuseret Collection Preview, May 18, 2019
Life and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
Published ReferencesEmily Whitehead, "Life and the Afterlife of Objects: A Case Study," in Life and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, ed. Melinda K. Hartwig (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023).
Melinda K. Hartwig, ed., Life and The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 80.

ProvenanceSaid to be ex coll. Henriette Zanon, Monte Carlo, from early 1900s. Reportedly loaned to the British Musuem, London, England, mid 20th Century. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

Status

Not on view

Collections