Boats and ferrymen
Boats were a very important mode of transport in ancient Egypt. This importance is continued in the underworld where the boat transported the soul on the journey through the land of the dead. A ferryman, often the god Kherty, navigated the boat on the underworld waterways.
Thoth on a barque
Wood
Late Period (664 BCE - 332 BCE)
Provenance unknown
National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden
© National Museum of Antiquities, the Netherlands
Thoth, a moon-god, was the god of wisdom, the maker of laws and chief scribe to the gods. He was also a guide and helper to the spirits of dead people as they travelled in the underworld. However, if they failed the final judgment, his role as a messenger for the gods meant he would be responsible for meting out their eternal punishment.
Book of the Dead belonging to a person named Horemakhbit
Papyrus
New Kingdom, 20th Dynasty (about 1186 BCE - 1069 BCE)
From Thebes
National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden
© National Museum of Antiquities, the Netherlands
The dead person is shown in the barque (boat) of the sun god Khepri. Khepri stands in the centre with a scarab as his head.
