Ancient Egyptian ship & boat models between theory & experimental simulation

Thesis

Ships and boats played a vital role in the everyday life of the ancient Egyptians and were also closely entwined with their ritual beliefs. The physical and spiritual passage of the deceased from the land of the living to the afterlife, for example, was a journey undertaken by a vessel. This was fraught with dangers, and to overcome these, the Egyptians worked on safeguarding the body and ensuring the continued existence of the deceased by mummifying the corpse and placing it in imperishable tombs. These were protected by magical spells and provided with models or replicas of various equipment and tools, including fleets of ships and boats equipped for various activities (Vinson, 1994: 50; Tooley, 1995:8).

This thesis presents a composite of three themes: The first is drawn from analysing Egyptian history and archaeological findings to highlight the importance of the models as iconic objects. It interrogates previous approaches and their contribution to studying ritual wooden boat and ship models. The second theme discusses the theoretical structure of the characteristics and dimensions of wooden vessel models to contextualize the factors underlying their creation. The final theme examines ship and boat models as actual floating bodies in a virtual environment with relatively ‘Nile-like’ characteristics. The chapters are organized around one or more of these central themes using subtopics to provide insights into the thesis’ scope, limitations, and rigour.

"Technology has not generally been a revolutionary force; it has been responsible for keeping things the same as changing them" (Edgerton, 2008:212).

Authors: El-Galy, NA

• Alternative title: Ancient Egyptian vessel models
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-j2odnd0dk
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: nautical analysis; ancient Egyptian art and creations; coloring in ancient Egypt; nautical simulation procedures; experimental tradition in maritime archaeology; fundamentals of naval engineering; ancient Egyptian ships; models; ancient Egyptian; ancient boats; nautical testing
• Subjects: Ships, Ancient; Digital computer simulation; Philosophy, Ancient--Egyptian influences; Nile River--Religious aspects--Ancient Egyptian religion; Future life--Ancient Egyptian religion; Naval art and science; Ship models