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KING SAHURE ship
King Sahure is considered one of
the most important pharaohs of the Old Kingom
period. During his reign, Sahure led expeditions to
Nubia, Sinai, the land of Punt, and Libya, extending
Egypt's influence and control over these regions.
Sahure commissioned the earliest known oceangoing
ships. His reign is credited with the earliest
detailed representations of the types of seagoing
vessels that were in use on the Mediterranean.
He
commissioned ship builders from the area of the
ancient city Byblos (current Lebanon) to create his ships.
A great number of big
ships of 70 to 80 tons displacement for long voyages
were built. In size, they can
be compared to Columbus's Santa Maria (100 tons) or his smaller ships
Nina and Pinta (50 tons.)
King Sahure's reign
witnessed the flourishing of the Egyptian navy. The
king sent Egyptian fleet to Punt (later known as the
ancient Greeks) which produced gold, aromatic
resins, ebony, ivory, and wild animals. His ships
also went to trade with cultures in the Eastern
Mediterranean and the
Levantine coast (bordered by Turkey, Syria, Lebanon,
Israel, and Palestine).
Sahure launched several naval
expeditions to modern-day Lebanon to procure cedar
trees, slaves, and exotic items. Sahure is shown celebrating the
success of this venture in a relief from his
mortuary temple which shows him tending a myrrh tree
in the garden of his palace named "Sahure's splendor
soars up to heaven." This relief is the only one in
Egyptian art depicting a king gardening. He also ordered military campaigns
against Libyan chieftains in the Western Desert,
bringing back livestock to Egypt.
Sahure's reign of 13 years marked the political and
cultural high point of the Fifth Dynasty over 4,400
years ago. He is famous not only for his many
military campaigns but also many building projects.
His notable building projects included his pyramid
complex which included a mortuary temple, a
causeway, and a valley temple. He made the pyramid
itself to have an unusual internal design, including
a unique subterranean chamber that may have been
used for religious rituals plus serve as his final
resting place. Sahure is also credited for the
cultural and artistic development of ancient Egypt.
Important works of art included the "Palermo Stone"
a significant historical document that records the
early history of ancient Egypt. The king also
commissioned several impressive sculptures, such as
the "Sahure and a Nome God" statue.
In King Sahure’s
burial temple, parts of reliefs showed the departure
and return of a fleet. A text on the relief
mentioned that ships, sent to Punt in the thirteen
year of Sahure’s reign, returned with 8,000 measures
of myrrh, 6,000 of electrum and 2,600 logs of a rare
wood. His pyramid had colonnaded courts and relief
sculptures which illustrated his naval fleet and
recorded his military career consisting mostly of
campaigns against the Libyans in the western desert.
Shipbuilding in
ancient Egypt is interesting for a variety of
reasons. First of all that, historically it is the
oldest art of shipbuilding to be known in any
detail. Second, ancient Egyptian ships were not laid
up on a keel, but got its structural strength from a
gangway-connecting stern to bow.
This very beautiful model of
the King Sahure's ship is 28" long x 23" tall x 10"
wide $2,290
Shipping and insurance in the contiguous USA
included, other places: $300 flat rate.
This model is in stock and can
be shipped within 5 business days.
For a display case,
please click here:
Model Ship Display Case
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