Nile boat

The El Salha Archaeological Project discovered an abundance of evidence of an ancient boat that traveled the Nile River dating back to 3,000 years ago.

The El Salha Archaeological Project of the Italian Institute for African and Oriental Studies has been working in the central Sudan since the fall of 2000.

Of great interest to maritime archeology is an elongated burial mound on the west bank of the Nile, 25 km south of Omdurman.

An important artifact that speaks to the early history of boat design and ship building was found in the Khartoum Mesolithic layer.

“In particular the image of a steering gear fixed to a vertical pole inserted in the stern upper hull can be found in boat rock engravings from the Abka region in Sudanese Nubia; and from Akkad which is south of the third Cataract on the left bank of the Nile in the Northern Dongola Reach.

[5] Studies of the ichthyo-fauna in Mesolithic sites in Central Sudan and lower Atbara published in 1993 led Peters to postulate that well designed Nile boats were used to fish for adults of the open water species Synodotis, Bagrus and Lates on a regular basis as opposed to fortuitous situations that occur in seasonal flood pools.

The design of the boat depicted on the rock from the 16 D-5 site, and contextual inference for fishing, also implies a minimal level of navigation skill.

True planked hull construction cannot be documented earlier than the 1st Dynasty with the discoveries at Tarkhan of planked hull boards that were re-used as coffin and roof timbers [6] However the architectural features of the Khartoum Mesolithic boat were refined and executed, they received broad acceptance among Egyptian ship builders and were widely utilized in nautical architecture during the next periods of Egyptian history.

The steering system with tiller positioned at a 45° angle can be identified in the stylized art style that abstracts essential features of boat design.

On some boats, as depicted on the Sabu-Jaddi rock art site, a pilot stands on the roof of the ship's cabin, apparently to be better positioned to adjust the tall tiller.