Boats of Egypt Before the 01.0 Kingdom

BOATS OF EGYPT BEFORE THE 01.0 KINGDOM

A Thesis By STEPHEN MICHAEL VINSON

Submitted to the Graduate College of Texas A&M University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the •

gree of

MASTER OF ARTS

August 1987 Major Subject: Anthropology

UTlCAL ARCHAEOLOG\

BOATS OF EGYPT BEFORE THE OLD KINGDOM

A Thesis

By STEPHEN MICHAEL VINSON

Approved as to style and content by:

~~

7~~Bass

(Chairman of Committee)

Q-~ RIChardSteffY

~.

(Member)

8~··:J 1{. ~ VtHVL:..lf· J{, Frederick H. Van Doornlnck (Member)

(Head. August

1987

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ABSTRACT

Boats of Egypt Before the Old KlngdonI (ltay 1 Stephen "Ichael Vinson, Bachelor of Journal I University of Texas at Austin Chairman of Advisory Committee: Dr. George F.

The origin and early development of planked boats n Pre- and Early Dynastic Egypt Is explored through an exam I nat I representat IOM I art, the Predynast Ic env Ironment, the development of tools and woodworking and direct archa evidence• for early boats, Including boat burials and s rvlvlng fragments. The use and range of early boats are examln

through

the archaeological evidence for trade within and be Val ley. Itis argued that the deve lopment of naut Ical

chno Iogy

In the NIle Valley was Independent of eXternal Influen s such as ""esopotamlan Invaders," and that boatwrlghts of the Ea Iy DynastIc period used essentially the same techniques as their Old Kingdom counterparts. It Is concluded that the Gra8COpractice of building ships with mortise-and-tenon joint derived from techniques perfected In prehistoric Egypt.

n

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis has taken more than two years to complete, and the list of people who have assisted me Is almost endless. Thanks must go first of all to Dr. Frederick J. Van Doornlnck, who provided

early Inspiration for the thesis In a series of semina

report

assignments for his preclasslcal seafaring class In th 1985. The thesis grew out of a term paper for that clas , and a subsequent paper for J. Richard Steffy's class In the wooden ships. Dr. George F. Bass was most enthusiastic results of those papers, and encouraged me In choosing Egyptian wooden boats as a thesiS project. He was kind urge that portions of the thesis be presented at a conf rence on maritime Egypt, which was held In Alexandria In June of this year. A large number of scholars around the world provld Informatlpn and assistance. Paul Lipke read a rough dra t of what became the section on the Tarkhan planks, and was helpf

In

providing contacts In the Egyptian Antiquities Organlza Ion. Michael Hoffman provided the clue that resulted In my locating he planks In the Petrie Museum at University College. London. Barber Adams, curator of the Petrie Museum. allowed me to examine the planks. and has been kind enough to change their labeling from "hou e timbers" to "boat timbers" as a result of this research. Photographs were provided for this thesis by the B Itlsh ~

Museum, the Petrie Museum. the Bade Institute of Blbllc Archaeology, Karl Marx University In Leipzig. the Unlve slty of

v

Heidelberg, and the Archaeological Institute of the Un verslty of Zurich. ". Sguatamattl, conservator at the Zurich Inst tute, provided photographs of boat models and boat pots bel the university and private collectors. Lech Krzyzanlak, director of the Archaeological Poznan, provided much useful Information as well as a the

s~sl\MII

ratls copy of

proceedings Origin AmI Early Development S2f. fggg

Producing Cultures l!! North-Eastern Africa, a very Int resting and useful book. Patrick F. O'llara provided translations

0

First-Dynasty boat names, the earliest ever reported.

e Conmlttee

of the Egypt Exploration Society was extremely cooper granting me permission to duplicate a large nlMl1ber of from Its many publications; all EES Illustrations are

Ilustrations ted In

Appendix 3. AleYt11s French-language corespondence, and found for me the re erences to •

the full-Sized boat models from Abu Roash during the c rseof her own thesis research In Holland. Lillian Ray, Patricia ann, Beth Braznell and Luis Costa all read the thesis In Its entirety, and prevented numerous errors from appearing. Clinton Phillips, whose duties as associate provost and dean of faculties at T consume an I_nse amount of time, did me the great

r and honor

to step In at the last minute and Join my advisory Finally, a special thank-you must

go

the the staf

University's Interlibrary Services department, without research for this thesis would not have gotten very fa

the