Please note:  recent changes implemented by the Ministry of Antiquities requires all papyrus to be inspected by an expert to ensure that antiquities are not being smuggled out of the country, what this means is that while your order will show as shipped, it may in fact be on hold at the Cairo airport pending inspection.   We apologize for any delays that may occur,  ultimately it is about the preservation of the history of Egypt. 

Egypt is the gift of the river’, said Herodotus, (5th Century BC)

This composite shows the vital link that boats have played in Ancient Egypt, from the practical to mythological significance.

The top boat scene is  taken from the tomb of Menna in Luxor.  The Nile was both a problem and the main highway. Too wide to be bridged, the only way to carrying people and wares from one shore to the other.   The wind blowing mostly from the North meant traveling between 40 and 70 kilometres a day.  But in the event of no wind they carried quite large crews to row. The bottom boat is a fishing boat.

The second scene show a solar boat, according to Egyptian beliefs, the soul of the dead accompanied the sun on its eternal journey in the Upper Waters (the heavens) around the world. A boat or at least a model of a boat was therefore included in every tomb. Some believe the wooden ship was a "solar boat" intended to be used by the deceased pharaoh in his eternal life as he journeyed across the sky from east to west to be united with the solar god Re. Another theory is that it was used as a funerary boat, to carry the body of the late pharaoh in his pilgrimage before burial in the pyramid.

Scenes three and four show Nefertari, and King Tut respectively on boats on the Nile.   The pharaohs prided themselves on their pleasure boats.  

And finally a fishing boat, the Nile the giver of life in all senses was abundant with fish.