This rather busy model boat came from the tomb of Meketre, who lived at the tail end of the 11th Dynasty and into the beginning of the 12th Dynasty. He was a very important official, and was buried at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna (near Deir el-Bahri) around 4,000 years ago.

Like so many Egyptian tombs Meketre’s funerary goods were removed by looters before archaeologists got there, in this case in antiquity. However when Winlock excavated it for the Met his team discovered a previously unknown chamber which was full of wooden models.

This boat is one of those models, one of a pair which ensured that the deceased perpetually made the pilgrimage to Abydos for the cult procession of Osiris every year during his afterlife. This boat depicts the way home, as it once had a sail to allow him to sail back to Thebes. 🧵 1/2

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