Ancient and Modern Ships, Part 1: Wooden Sailing ShipsHolmes, George Charles Vincent, Sir
History
Ancient and Modern Ships, Part 1: Wooden Sailing Ships
Holmes, George Charles Vincent, Sir
Sailing ships -- History; Shipbuilding -- History; Ships -- History
"His Holiness, the King Mer-en-Ra, sent me to the country of Abhat to
bring back a sarcophagus with its cover, also a small pyramid, and a
statue of the King Mer-en-Ra, whose pyramid is called Kha-nofer ('the
beautiful rising'). And his Holiness sent me to the city of
Elephantine to bring back a holy shrine, with its base of hard
granite, and the doorposts and cornices of the same granite, and also
to bring back the granite posts and thresholds for the temple opposite
to the pyramid Kha-nofer, of King Mer-en-Ra. The number of ships
destined for the complete transport of all these stones consisted of
six broad vessels, three tow-boats, three rafts, and one ship manned
with warriors."
Further on, the inscriptions relate how stone for the Pyramid was hewn
in the granite quarries at Assouan, and how rafts were constructed, 60
cubits in length and 30 cubits in breadth, to transport the material.
The Royal Egyptian cubit was 20.67 inches in length, and the common
cubit 18.24 inches. The river had fallen to such an extent that it was
not possible to make use of these rafts, and others of a smaller size
had to be constructed. For this purpose Una was despatched up the river
to the country of Wawa-t, which Brugsch considered to be the modern
Korosko. The inscription states--
"His Holiness sent me to cut down four forests in the South, in order
to build three large vessels and four towing-vessels out of the acacia
wood in the country of Wawa-t. And behold the officials of Araret,
Aam, and Mata caused the wood to be cut down for this purpose.
I executed all this in the space of a year. As soon as the waters rose
I loaded the rafts with immense pieces of granite for the Pyramid
Kha-nofer, of the King Mer-en-Ra."
Mr. Villiers Stuart found several pictures of large ships of this remote
period at Kasr-el-Syad on the Nile, about 70 miles below Thebes, in the
tomb of Ta-Hotep, who lived in the reigns of Pepi I. and his two
successors. These boats were manned with twenty-four rowers, and had two
cabins, one amidships and the other astern.[3] The same explorer
describes the contents of a tomb of the sixth dynasty at Gebel Abu
Faida, on the walls of which he observed the painting of a boat with a
triple mast (presumably made of three spars arranged like the edges of a
triangular pyramid), and a stern projecting beneath the water.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account