The Barge of the God Amun

The ceremonial barge of the god Amun. Among the many annual festivals in honour of the state god Amun, king of the gods, were some in which the god - in the form of his image - was ferried on the river at Thebes, the god's own city. For the purpose, a gorgeous barge of royal type was used; it was built of Lebanon cedar and overlaid down to the waterline with gold. This barge was named Amun-woser-het (Amun is powerful of aspect). The ship is shown here as it appeared in the reign of King Amunhotep III (1417 - 1379 B.C.) of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Inside the shrine-shaped cabin of the fifty-metre-long vessel stood a smaller, portable, gilded boat in whose cabin the god's statue rested, protected from vulgar gaze by a veil.