Downstreaming and upstreaming the Nile. The (rare) stelae displaying boats and people to commemorate the pilgrimage to a sacred place, and the ones with a single deceased person onboard receiving offerings

S. PETACCHI, "Downstreaming and upstreaming the Nile. The (rare) stelae displaying boats and people to commemorate the pilgrimage to a sacred place, and the ones with a single deceased person onboard receiving offerings", in L. PLEUGER (ed.), « Du Nil à la mer. L'Égypte au fil de l'eau – From the Nile to the Sea. Egypt along the Water » (CEA, 24), Brussels, 2024.

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This study focuses on the unique aspect of boat depictions on stelae and chalenges some general assumptions about the nature of ancient Egyptian pilgrimages. Depending on the type of stela, the boats depicted on it, the presence and type of people on board, their attitude, position, instruments carried, as wel as their titles, may offer more information about the journey along the Nile. Documenting a real pilgrimage, experienced firsthand by an individual who wished to leave a trace of his proximity to the local god for the benefit of a future passing away aligns with the posthumous journey up or doun the river by the soul of the deceased as

 

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