Egyptian Non-Royal Found Buried With a Funerary Vessel

If you were among the elite in ancient Egypt it was presumed that upon your death you could in fact take your earthly belongings with you – especially if said possession allowed for an easier passage to the afterlife. So the recent discovery of an ancient and unique funerary boat belonging to a non-royal in the area of the Abusir pyramids in Egypt, while not a total surprise to the archaeologists excavating there, is being acknowledged as a first.

The boat, measuring 59 feet in length, was found 40 feet away from the large ancient tomb (mastaba) where the archaeologists were excavating. Although funerary boats have historically been discovered much closer to their owner’s tomb, the boat’s length and orientation, as well as pottery gathered from inside, have established a definitive connection between the vessel and the tomb, making this the first vessel from the Old Kingdom of significant size associated with a non-royal tomb.

According to statements made by the director of the excavation, Miroslav Bárta from the Czech Institute of Archaeology at Charles University in Prague, “This is a highly unusual discovery since boats of such a size and construction were, during this period, reserved solely for top members of the society, who usually belonged to the royal family.”

In one of the tomb’s underground chambers a stone bowl bearing the name of the last pharaoh of the Third Dynasty (King Huni) was discovered, which dates the tomb to that time period. The name of the tomb’s owner however, is still unknown because his burial shaft has yet to be located. Considering the distance of the boat from the tomb, archeologists don’t believe he belonged to the royal family. Nonetheless, the presence of the vessel is indicative of an extraordinary social standing. That, along with the size of his tomb, places him as an elite who had a strong connection with the pharaohs who reigned at the time.

The 4,500-year-old funerary vessel had been covered over by wind-blown sand and was found sitting on a bed made up of stones. Its wooden components as well as its ropes (including some of the ropes that bound the vessel together) were still in their original position and had maintained their original details. The boat’s wooden planks – joined together with wooden pegs – were also discovered intact.

The tomb and the vessel were discovered within a cemetery used by officials of the Old Kingdom and dating to around 2550 BCE. The Old Kingdom (the first of three Kingdom periods) refers to an era in the 3rd millennium BCE which marked a high point of Egyptian civilization within the lower Nile Valley. The other periods are referred to as the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom.

Some scholars contend that ancient funerary boats were meant to be used as solar barques during the owner’s journey across the underworld. Others have argued the vessels were no more than funerary offerings which the deceased could use in the afterlife. Old Kingdom elites would often have several boats buried in their burial complexes, but a majority of these pits are found empty of everything but a pattern made of brown dust. The only exceptions are the two boats (currently being reconstructed) belonging to the pharaoh who built Giza’s Great Pyramids, Khufu.

“It is by all means a remarkable discovery. The careful excavation and recording of the Abusir boat will make a considerable contribution to our understanding of ancient Egyptian watercraft and their place in funerary cult. And where there is one boat, there very well may be more,” Bárta’s statement went on to say.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user: Axel Seedorf

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