r/AncientCivilizations • u/JackAGoldman • 8h ago
Why would the first kings of Egypt bury a fleet of boats in the desert, miles from the Nile?
Near the funerary enclosures at Abydos, archaeologists found a row of 14 wooden boats buried in mudbrick-lined pits, dated to the very beginning of Egyptian history, around 3000 BC. They were real, full-size vessels, not models.
The standard reading is that they were meant to carry the king in the afterlife. What I find strange is the logic behind it: a state that invests in a buried fleet for a dead king was clearly willing to spend anything on him. And a few hundred metres away, hundreds of subsidiary graves were dug for his household.
Does the boat burial make the retainer burials more or less surprising to you? I would love to hear how others read the connection.
Disclosure: I made a documentary video covering this evidence, in case anyone wants the visuals: https://youtu.be/hDW3GkemMaA
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u/VastPercentage9070 6h ago edited 2h ago
To me it tracks with what we know about the ancient Egyptian society (especially early on) and afterlife.
The Duat from what we have in later records is understood as requiring boats to traverse parts of it. And especially to join Ra on his journey. Thus sending the king off with one seems a no brainer.
As for retainer burial. In the early years the afterlife and the secrets of navigating it was not publicly available knowledge. The king and his priests seem to have had a monopoly on the spells and stories required. Thus retainers and dignitaries sought the privilege of being buried with or near the king in hopes he would bring them with him. Which would explain the many boats.
This system seems to have broken down as the old kingdom declined. As central authority broke down the spells to navigate the underworld began to be disseminated among the populace. No longer reserved to just the kings burial (pyramid texts),by end of the old kingdom royal wives began getting their own. While the chaos of the First intermediate period saw the nobility begin having their burials in their own regions and with this development also appeared the spells in the coffin texts, marking the end of royal monopoly on the afterlife. The trend of increasing public access would continue into the later eras with the many variations of the Book of the dead.
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u/peter303_ 7h ago
Some people think Egypt was still savannah, not desert, in First Kingdom. Growing climate stress may led to the first intermediate period.
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u/ACanadianGuy1967 8h ago
The belief is that the dead might need things in their afterlife, which is thought to be very similar to our world so it would have its own Nile, etc. So those who can afford it (such as royalty) would have lots of worldly goods buried with them in their actual tombs, or nearby, so that they will have those things with them should they need them.
Some cultures even today will "send" things to their beloved dead by burning things such as money, food, or objects they think the dead might need in their afterlives. Some have adjusted the belief to allow things that look like the actual items, rather than the actual items, to be burned as a way of giving the dead things. So fake money (like million dollar "hell money" banknotes), or cardboard cars and houses and tvs and dvd players, will be burned in ceremonies for the dead as a way of giving the dead those things.
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u/FenrisSquirrel 7h ago
I was thinking about this recently. The practice made your parent / king etc dying and extremely burdensome occasion. I wonder if a part of the foundation of this belief was to reduce the net benefit of deposing monarchs / other elements of the ruling class and thus disincentivising it.
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u/Mackwiss 7h ago
Archaeologists here. Yes this is normal and in line with 3000 years of ancient Egyptian thinking... also using boats as funerária places is very common around the world...