DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0315
228
0. Bates
to allow a crew of seven men, standing on the deck, to manipulate a heavy seine. In
their structure, these long rafts are like the one man rigs and the canoes.112
The true papyrus canoes or balsas exhibit a peculiarity of design, by which they are
in most cases easily distinguished from the rafts. They are always represented as having
slightly rockered bottoms, and —■ with hardly an exception —- both prow and stern are
lifted well clear of the water in a manner which gives a long overhang fore and aft. The
perfect type, as developed in the Old Kingdom, is seen in fig. 22. In most cases the stern
is more elevated than the bow — a difference which may have originated in a desire to
put the steersman in a place from which he could get a clear view ahead (figs. 22, 23,
35-38, 40, 44, 128). The commonness of this type of canoe is attested not only by the
frequency with which it appears in the tomb paintings, but by its employment as a hiero-
glyph as well (fig. 14 — the rounded object lying on the canoe is probably a fish net).
Canoes in which bow and stern are equally elevated above the water, though not neces-
sarily of equal length, are shown in figs. 82, 124, 126, and 147 (raft?).
The balsas were apparently very narrow at the extremities, as is the case with their
modern cognates. This is brought out by the postures of the men: for whereas a paddler
often rests more comfortably on two knees than on one (cf. fig. 21), the narrow beam of
the fore and after parts of the Egyptian balsas only allowed room for a man at the end
of the craft to rest his weight on one knee (cf. figs. 126, 130, 131).113
The canoes are usually bound at regular intervals throughout their length with
papyrus cords passed around the hull twice (figs. 40, 42, 230), or three times (figs. 22, 30,
36) ,114 or alternately twice and thrice (fig. 38). Near the ends five or more lashings were
often passed to give greater strength and rigidity to these exposed parts of the vessel
(fig. 42 — the bow). The lashings were tied with square knots on the upper side of the
balsa — I suspect, along the gunwales. In most cases the knots were concealed when the
canoe was finished, or else they have been left unrepresented by the Egyptian artists.
What seems to have been intended to represent a binder of leather or textile is occasion-
ally shown on the canoes in the tomb paintings (fig. 32; cf. the strip on which the eye is
painted in fig. 35, and the corresponding, but undecorated, strip at the stern).
Some papyrus canoes of the Middle Kingdom appear to be exceptional in their con-
struction, in that the reeds of which they are made are not lashed round with a finishing
112 The curious double ended craft shown in fig. 21 may perhaps represent a raft. If the representations in Lep-
sius and in Rosellini, which I have followed, are correct, it can only be said of this vessel that it is either very badly
drawn by the Egyptian artist, or that it represents an unusual and eccentric form. Cf. the Middle Kingdom raft
shown in fig. 147.
113 Such instances are common: Newberry, Beni Hassan, pt. 1, pl. 34, bottom, for an additional example. Once
in a while a man at the extremity of a canoe is represented as on both knees — cf. fig. 230.
114 More than three turns at a time are sometimes seen, e. g., in the Middle Kingdom example given by Newberry,
op. cit., pt. 2, pl. 29.
0. Bates
to allow a crew of seven men, standing on the deck, to manipulate a heavy seine. In
their structure, these long rafts are like the one man rigs and the canoes.112
The true papyrus canoes or balsas exhibit a peculiarity of design, by which they are
in most cases easily distinguished from the rafts. They are always represented as having
slightly rockered bottoms, and —■ with hardly an exception —- both prow and stern are
lifted well clear of the water in a manner which gives a long overhang fore and aft. The
perfect type, as developed in the Old Kingdom, is seen in fig. 22. In most cases the stern
is more elevated than the bow — a difference which may have originated in a desire to
put the steersman in a place from which he could get a clear view ahead (figs. 22, 23,
35-38, 40, 44, 128). The commonness of this type of canoe is attested not only by the
frequency with which it appears in the tomb paintings, but by its employment as a hiero-
glyph as well (fig. 14 — the rounded object lying on the canoe is probably a fish net).
Canoes in which bow and stern are equally elevated above the water, though not neces-
sarily of equal length, are shown in figs. 82, 124, 126, and 147 (raft?).
The balsas were apparently very narrow at the extremities, as is the case with their
modern cognates. This is brought out by the postures of the men: for whereas a paddler
often rests more comfortably on two knees than on one (cf. fig. 21), the narrow beam of
the fore and after parts of the Egyptian balsas only allowed room for a man at the end
of the craft to rest his weight on one knee (cf. figs. 126, 130, 131).113
The canoes are usually bound at regular intervals throughout their length with
papyrus cords passed around the hull twice (figs. 40, 42, 230), or three times (figs. 22, 30,
36) ,114 or alternately twice and thrice (fig. 38). Near the ends five or more lashings were
often passed to give greater strength and rigidity to these exposed parts of the vessel
(fig. 42 — the bow). The lashings were tied with square knots on the upper side of the
balsa — I suspect, along the gunwales. In most cases the knots were concealed when the
canoe was finished, or else they have been left unrepresented by the Egyptian artists.
What seems to have been intended to represent a binder of leather or textile is occasion-
ally shown on the canoes in the tomb paintings (fig. 32; cf. the strip on which the eye is
painted in fig. 35, and the corresponding, but undecorated, strip at the stern).
Some papyrus canoes of the Middle Kingdom appear to be exceptional in their con-
struction, in that the reeds of which they are made are not lashed round with a finishing
112 The curious double ended craft shown in fig. 21 may perhaps represent a raft. If the representations in Lep-
sius and in Rosellini, which I have followed, are correct, it can only be said of this vessel that it is either very badly
drawn by the Egyptian artist, or that it represents an unusual and eccentric form. Cf. the Middle Kingdom raft
shown in fig. 147.
113 Such instances are common: Newberry, Beni Hassan, pt. 1, pl. 34, bottom, for an additional example. Once
in a while a man at the extremity of a canoe is represented as on both knees — cf. fig. 230.
114 More than three turns at a time are sometimes seen, e. g., in the Middle Kingdom example given by Newberry,
op. cit., pt. 2, pl. 29.