Beni Hasan funerary boat

[2] The model was found in the tomb of Keka and Hetep-bu (tomb number 886) during the 1902–04 excavations at Beni Hasan led by the archaeologist John Garstang, of the University of Liverpool, with local Egyptian workmen led by chief foreman Saleh abd El Nebi, of Awidat.

[3] Made from wood and originally coated with plaster, the model is approximately 70 centimetres long.

[4] The boat's profile is classed as a Reisner type II: ‘a river craft with curling stern and one rudder, dating from the Middle Kingdom’.

[5] Being sans sail and with men at the oars the model represents a boat travelling north – down the Nile;[6] the other model boat found alongside it was oar-less and fitted with a sail for travelling south – up the Nile – as per ancient Egyptian custom.

Boats played a major role in Egyptian religion, too, with the gods using them to traverse the sky and netherworld.