Ancient Egyptian Ships and Boats with Ziad Morsy
Sunday 4 June, 15.00 BST
Location: Online – Zoom
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This talk was given at the June 2023 meeting of the Essex Egyptology Group, which was held online via Zoom on 4 June 2023 at 15.00 BST.
The Nile was considered to be the highway for trade and population movements since the early days of Egyptian civilisation. Egyptians adopted Neolithic lifeways (approximately 5500 BC), and they continued their reliance on boats and ships to utilise the resources of the Nile.
During the riverine transportation history of Egypt, a large number of boat types have been used. The richness of this history is demonstrated in the representations of many different types of vessels, models of ships, boats, and the people who used them.
This talk discussed different types of ships and boats in Ancient Egypt, exploring the different archaeological, iconographic, and written evidence of ancient Egyptian boatbuilding traditions. It also shed some light on the latest archaeological discoveries in the field of ancient Egyptian nautical archaeology.
Ziad Morsy
Ziad Morsy is an Egyptian maritime archaeologist, heritage enthusiast and an avid learner. He has spent half his life studying archaeology. From graduation in 2009 he worked at the Alexandria Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage as an administrator and research assistant until 2016. Throughout his work in Alexandria, he had been involved in a number of archaeological projects, all related to underwater archaeology and 3D documentation of cultural heritage sites/objects. He is currently a PhD Candidate/Researcher at the University of Southampton.
Image
Model of a riverboat found in the tomb of the royal chief steward Meketre, Thebes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.