Field of Rushes

Year: 1850 BC
Category: Ancient
Vessel Type: Merchant Ship
Scale: 1/8" = 1 foot
Overall Length: 37.6 feet

Field of Rushes is an Egyptian funerary boat dating to 1850 B.C.. Ancient Egyptians believed the dead had to travel across a body of water before they could experience resurrection in the hereafter. It is due to this belief that royal and wealthy Egyptians had real boats buried with them so they would be equipped for this important passage. Middle class people had models of ships buried with them for this journey and poor people had pictures of ships buried with them. It was believed the deceased person would travel in their boat to the "Field of Rushes," a place where crops grew with ease and life was good.

The plans and information for this carving are based upon the "Dashur Boats" found in a Royal Egyptian tomb by French Archaeologists in 1894. This information was provided by Egyptologists Bjorn Landstrom of Sweden, and Pearce Paul Creaseman of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at College Station, Texas USA.