THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT
AN INDIVIDUAL STUDENT’S
PROJECT SHOULD LOOK LIKE.
What this includes:
1. An example of the explanation for a topic done by the individual student. His
topic is: What are funerary boats and what was the purpose of them in Egypt.
2. The three primary source details showing examples of Funerary Boats with an
accurate idea of what your World History teacher means by “background.”
EGYPTIAN FUNERARY BOATS
Johnny Cash, Blake Shelton, and Adam Levine
5th Period
Honors World History
Topic #1- (Johnny) What is a funerary boat?
• A funerary boat in most cases is an actual boat that the Egyptians believed
would help carry a soul to the afterlife.
• Sometimes actual large boats were buried with the person, but they have also
found small models that represent larger boats in tombs.
• On average, uncovered boats averaged about 20 feet in length. The pharaoh
Khufu was buried with a funerary boat that measured 144 feet in length with
12 oars to power it.
• All funerary boats, including models were made of wood imported from outside
of Egypt.
Khufu’s Funerary Boat on display in a museum (Johnny)
Topic 1- (Johnny) What was the purpose of it in
Egypt?
• There are many different theories about why funerary boats were used. However, the main
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theory is that they symbolically carried the pharaoh’s soul to the afterlife. In other words, they
didn’t actually “ride” on the boat, it was a symbol of the journey.
Other archaeologists believe that it was used to by the dead Pharaoh to cross the sky with the
sun god Ra.
Archaeologists believed at first that they were only used by pharaohs, but other discoveries of
small boats by basic tombs could lead one to believe that they were used by all Egyptian
classes.
The main theory behind why they used the boats is:
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.
What was the purpose of it?, continued (Johnny)
• General look: The mast was bipod. A lookout was placed in the stern, slave
rowers rowed to the beat of a drummer and the pilot steered with the double
rudder. The place of the dead was under the canopy. The form of the boat is
very similar to that of the reed boats. Both the stern and the bow were
decorated with lotus flowers.
• Bipod means that it had two poles that met at a point.
• Lotus flowers: In Egypt the Lotus flower represents the sun and rebirth.
Picture of the second pit being excavated in 2011.
(Johnny)
Primary Source Picture #1- Johnny
http://www.mylearning.org/ancientegyptian-funerary-boat/images/1-3724/
This wooden Funerary Boat model from
1990 BC came from the coffin of a courtier
to the Pharoah. Model funerary boats were
placed in the Middle Kingdom Egyptian
graves to transport the deceased in the
afterlife. The model has four pairs of
oarsmen (missing their oars) and a single
figure in the stern holding a steering oar.
*A courtier is a person who is part of the
kings “court.” In other words, he works for
the king.
Primary Source #2- Johnny
• Ancient Egyptian model of a funerary
boat. Middle Kingdom (2040 - 1640
BCE). The boat carries the mummy of
the deceased under the canopy. On top of
the canopy sits a dog representing
Anubis, the patron of embalming, who
was often seen leading the dead to the
afterlife. During the Middle Kingdom
period, boat models were commonly
placed in tombs to provide a means of
transportation to the underworld.
• http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/An
cient-Egyptian-model-funerary-boat/
Primary Source #3- Johnny
• This is a funerary boat currently on display at the
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Met Museum.
Funeral Boat Setting out under Sail
Period: Middle Kingdom ca. 1981–1975 B.C.
This is a great example of a smaller model of a
funerary boat that would have been put in a tomb
to represent the larger boat.
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/thecollection-online/search/577298