Model – boat, painted MOD-0002

This is a 'sickle boat', with a hull that shows the convex curve characteristic of Predynastic Upper Egyptian boats. This type of boat is first attested on a C-ware dish dated to Naqada IC but is best known for decorating the D-Ware vases of the Naqada IIC–D period. The stern stands vertically, while the bow rises forward with a short vertical extremity. The bow is higher than the stern. The bottom is flat - a regular feature for predynastic boat models. This gives the model the necessary stability, but also reflects Egyptian shipbuilding techniques. Indeed, real boats of the time were wooden structures with a flat bottom and no keel.

On the outer surface of the model, a thin horizontal incision runs along the gunwale on both sides. The internal cavity has been carefully modelled by hollowing out the upper half of the hull height. This cavity was made before firing. The rectangular structure, erected in the centre of the deck and whose base merges with the gunwales, is a seat/throne consisting of a seat and a foot-rest protected by lateral walls hiding the legs of a high-ranking persone. Such structures are well attested in Early Dynastic iconography and by high-standard models of the period (see in particular the ivory models from the Main Deposit in Hierakonpolis). The typology of the boat is typical of the Naqada IIIA–B period.