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Wooden tomb models were deposited as
grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...
in the tombs and burial shafts in
Middle Kingdom of Egypt The Middle Kingdom of Egypt (also known as The Period of Reunification) is the period in the history of ancient Egypt following a period of political division known as the First Intermediate Period. The Middle Kingdom lasted from approximately ...
. They included a wide variety of wooden figurines and scenes, such as boats,
granaries A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals ...
, baking and brewing scenes and butchery scenes.


Predynastic, Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom

Pottery and ivory models from the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods are rare, but have been found to include similar items and scenes to the later models such as granaries.Tooley, Angela M. J. "Models." In ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt''. Oxford University Press, 2001. .
OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It wa ...
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During the Old Kingdom, limestone models of single figures taking part in a variety of activities such as "sifting, forming dough cakes, attending a bread oven, straining beer mash, preparing beer jars, cooking or stewing meat, butchering a cow, and carrying pots or sacks," playing the harp, as well as several wooden boat models have been found in elite burials. The models could be found buried outside of the tomb or in the serdab and statue niches within the tomb. Following the reign of
Pepi II Pepi II Neferkare (2284 BC – after 2247 BC, probably either  2216 or  2184 BC) was a pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty in Egypt's Old Kingdom who reigned from  2278 BC. His second name, Neferkare (''Nefer-ka-Re''), means "Beautiful ...
, such models are increasingly found in elite burials and in greater numbers.


First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom

The First Intermediate Period models were made of wood and were usually two or more human figures attached to a base in a scene. Most funerary models today are from the Middle Kingdom, where not only did the number increase but also the variety of the models and their functions. These models could be found in the tomb chapel, for example the tomb of Nakhti at
Asyut AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut'' ( ar, أسيوط ' , from ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at ...
, floor niches and shafts, or in the burial chamber. Those found in the burial chamber were orientated to the cardinal directions and coffin, and could be found both on top of the coffin and on the floor beside it. These models can generally be grouped into boats, food production, craftsmen and workshops, and other (soldiers, scribes, house models, inspection of cattle and men holding a sedan chair). Most of the models are three-dimensional representations of common scenes that are found on tomb chapel walls. For example, granaries are found depicted on southern walls of Old Kingdom tomb chambers and as well as on the foot ends of Middle Kingdom coffins. Some of the best known are the twenty-four wooden models that come from the tomb of Meketre (
TT280 Tomb TT280, located in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, part of the Theban Necropolis, is the burial place of the ancient Egyptian noble Meketre who was chancellor and chief steward during the reign of Mentuhotep II and Mentuhotep III, during the Eleventh ...
), which are now found in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in New York City. The largest collection of models were found in Tomb 10A of Djehutynakht and his wife, also called Djehutynakht, at Dayr al-Barshā by the 1915 the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts excavation which included "some 58 model boats and nearly three dozen models of daily life." These models are now at the
Boston Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
. File:Model of a procession of offering bearers MET DT224780.jpg, Model of a procession of offering bearers, Tomb of Meketre. MMA 20.3.8. File:Plowing scene (Louvre E 27069) 01.jpg, Plowing scene. Louvre E 27069. File:Model Cattle stable from the tomb of Meketre MET DT234927.jpg, Model of a Cattle Stable, Tomb of Meketre. MMA 20.3.9. File:Model of a Granary with Scribes MET DP351558.jpg, Model of a Granary with Scribes, Tomb of Meketre. MMA 20.3.11


Late Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom

During the reign of
Senusret III Khakaure Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or the hellenised form, Sesostris III) was a pharaoh of Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth Dynasty of t ...
, the use of wooden models in tombs declines and are no longer found. However, frequently included in discussions of Middle Kingdom models are several model boats have been found in New Kingdom royal burials, most notably the burial of
Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...
. Tutankhamun's flotilla included thirty-five boats. Other notable New Kingdom models are the boats of Queen Aahotep at Dra Abu el-Naga which includes one made of gold with silver figures and another made entirely of silver.


Model boats

The Nile river was very important in ancient Egypt as it allowed for agriculture, trade, and travel. As with other model types, tomb wall paintings from the Old Kingdom onwards frequently included images of boats, with scenes of the manufacture of boats, pilgrimages to Abydos for festival days, transportation of the coffin, sporting and other activities. In the corpus of model boats, similar motifs are reflected in three-dimensions, such as vessels for transporting the deceased, cooking, travelling, and sporting. A typology of model boats was made by
George Andrew Reisner George Andrew Reisner Jr. (November 5, 1867 – June 6, 1942) was an American archaeologist of Ancient Egypt, Nubia and Palestine. Biography Reisner was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His parents were George Andrew Reisner I and Mary Elizabeth ...
in the 1913 catalogue of model boats at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. He categorised the boats into seven types: # Type I: Square cut river-boat, two rudders (Old Kingdom) # Type II: River-boat with curling stern and single rudder (Middle Kingdom) # Type III: Swamp boat, papyrus raft (Predynastic period down) # Type IV: Papyrus-form wooden boat (Old to Middle Kingdom) # Type V: Funeral bark of papyrus form (Middle Kingdom) # Type VI: Solar bark of uncertain structural origin (Middle Kingdom) # Type VII: Divine barks (All periods) In the Middle Kingdom, model sailing and rowing boats (type II or IV) were generally found in pairs, one rowing indicating travel northward, one sailing indicating travel southward. File:Model Paddling Boat MET 20.3.5 EGDP011930.jpg, Model Paddling Boat, Tomb of Meketre. MMA 20.3.5. File:Model Boat MET 24.9 view 1.jpg, Model Boat, Lisht. MMA 24.9 File:Model Sporting Boat MET DT1529.jpg, Model Sporting Boat, Tomb of Meketre. MMA 20.3.6.


References


Further reading

* Jones, Dilwyn (1990). ''Model boats from the tomb of Tutʻankhamūn''. Oxford: Griffith Institute. .
OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It wa ...
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*Reisner, George Andrew (1913). '' Models of ships and boats''. Le Caire: l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale *Tooley, Angela M. J. "Models." In ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt''. Oxford University Press, 2001. .
OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It wa ...
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*Tooley, Angela M. J. (1995). ''Egyptian models and scenes''. Princes Risborough: Shire. {{ISBN, 0-7478-0285-8.
Examination of Wooden Tomb Models - Penn Museum
Art of ancient Egypt Funerary art Sculptures of ancient Egypt Wooden sculptures Figurines Egyptian artefact types Ancient Egypt