A painted wooden boat with 15 wooden figures, all painted with dark skin and hair, shirtless, and white cloth around their lower halves. Fourteen figures are seated as if rowing; one figures stands facing sideways at the back of the boat.

Model of a River Boat

Middle Kingdom, mid-Dynasty 12, about 1875 BCE

Egyptian; Meir, Egypt

Egypt

For millennia the Nile River has connected people living in the towns and cities along its banks. Ancient Egyptians used boats, barges, and other watercraft as their main forms of transportation to conduct commerce, state business, and religious pilgrimages. Skilled sailors, like the 15 men represented here, rowed north with the river’s current or sailed south with the prevailing winds. This model boat was placed in a tomb chamber to ensure that the deceased would be able to travel for eternity.

Wood and pigment

Arts of Africa