A model paddling wooden boat found in the
Theban tomb of Meketre, a high official who died in the early reign of King Amenemhat I (circa 1981 to 1975 BCE) during the 12th Dynasty. A boat with paddles indicates downstream travel with the northward flow of the Nile and against the prevailing northern wind. This ceremonial boat probably symbolizes the owner's funerary voyage by the river to the sacred city of Abydos, the major cult centre of the god Osiris. A life-size statue of Meketre is shown seated under a shrinelike canopy. This fine model (20.3.5) is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.
