The Neshmet bark was a vessel belonging to the god

Nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

. The ancient Egyptian deity

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...

was transported in it on the river

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

during the Osiris festival at Abydos. The god's departure from his temple, journey to his tomb, and triumphant return were enacted and drew many spectators who participated in the public parts of the mysteries.

In myth

The myth of the death and resurrection of Osiris kindled hope for eternal life in the hearts of the believers, and since the

6th dynasty The Sixth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty VI), along with the Third, Fourth and Fifth Dynasty, constitutes the Old Kingdom of Dynastic Egypt. Pharaohs Known pharaohs of the Sixth Dynasty are listed in the table below. Manetho ac ...

they often preferred to be buried near their god at Abydos. Their mummies were taken to the city in decorated funerary boats reminiscent of Osiris' Neshmet bark. Involvement in building a Neshmet bark was an event of some importance and duly recorded among the good deeds in a person's 'autobiographical' mortuary inscriptions. Tomb depictions show the deceased in Neshmet barks, thus

Rekhmire Rekhmire was an ancient Egyptian noble and official of the 18th Dynasty who served as "Governor of the Town" ( Thebes) and Vizier during the reigns of Thutmosis III and Amenhotep II, circa 1400 BCE. He was the nephew of Vizier User, who took offi ...

's statue is shown in a shrine on the bark with a priest making libations.

Other divine barks

There were other divine barks such as the

Hennu In Egyptian mythology, the hennu boat or Sokar barque (also henu, Manuel de Codage transliteration: Hnw) was a symbol of the god Seker of Memphis. Depending on the era or the prevailing dynasty of Egypt, the hennu boat sailed toward either dawn ...

bark of

Seker Seker (; also spelled Sokar, and in Greek, Sokaris or Socharis) is a falcon god of the Memphite necropolis in the Ancient Egyptian religion. Name Although the meaning of his name remains uncertain, the Egyptians in the Pyramid Texts linked his ...

, as well as the sun barks of Ra, which included the morning bark, ''

mandjet Solar barques were the vessels used by the sun god Ra in ancient Egyptian mythology. During the day, Ra was said to use a vessel called the Mandjet ( egy, mꜥnḏt) or the Boat of Millions of Years ( egy, wjꜣ-n-ḥḥw), and the vessel he ...

'', and the evening bark, '' mesktet''.Dilwyn Jones, ''Boats'', University of Texas Press 1995, , p.35

References

Egyptian mythology {{Egyptian-myth-stub