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Model of a fowling boat

Egyptian
Middle Kingdom, late Dynasty 11 – early Dynasty
2010–1961 B.C.
Findspot: Egypt, Deir el-Bersha, Tomb 10, shaft A (Djehutynakht)

Medium/Technique Wood
Dimensions Length x width x height: 47 x 11 x 23 cm (18 1/2 x 4 5/16 x 9 1/16 in.)
Credit Line Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
Accession Number21.802
ClassificationsModels

DescriptionThe following description reflects this object’s current condition and state of assembly, which were achieved after conservation. Photography that appears with this record may show the object prior to changes made during conservation.

This wooden tomb model depicts a boat used for fowling. Though it seems to have had three crew members originally, only one remains. This figure kneels at the stern of the boat in the position of a helmsman. He is painted reddish-brown with a long white kilt and a black wig. His right arm extends forward towards the vertical stanchion to which a steering oar is attached. Both arms are attached to the body at the shoulders via small pegs. Near the center of the deck are two birds. To the front of these birds two holes in the deck still have fragments of the pegs used to attach the additional figures. The boat is plastered and painted white with red detialing lines indicating sections and beams of the deck.
ProvenanceFrom Deir el-Bersha, tomb 10, shaft A (tomb of Djehutynakht). May 1915: excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; assigned to the MFA in the division of finds by the government of Egypt. (Accession Date: March 1, 1921)