Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead

Many traditions gave their gods a boat and their dead a ferry: the barques of Ra, the barge of the moon god Suen, Charon’s wherry, the golden cup of the Sun and Baldr’s funeral ship.

This chapter of Sacred Ships holds 13 ships. For each one we give the source, what happens, and only what the text itself says about the vessel. See all 102 ships on one page.

Subject to interpretation, Marea can build any of these ships as a scale model, with the maximum detail the scale permits. We build her as the text describes her: the timber, the oars, the sails. Seventeen of these texts even give her size or her crew.

This database was put together by Ai Refloat™, Marea’s own artificial intelligence, from published translations of the texts and from museum and university sources. Ai Refloat is still young & like any teenager, it can be a little volatile and unpredictable at times, but above all, it is learning fast. So this list may well contain mistakes and we welcome the input of everyone who knows these texts and traditions better than we do.

Have you spotted a mistake? Tell us which ship and which text, and we will amend it accordingly. Tell us here

The ships

Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Egyptian
The Barques of Ra, Mandjet and Mesektet Boat of a god
Book of the Dead, chapter 136; the Amduat (earliest complete copy in KV34, the tomb of Thutmose III)
Tradition Egyptian
Ra crosses the sky by day in the Mandjet and the underworld by night in the Mesektet, through twelve gates or hours. Every night the serpent Apep attacks the boat, and at dawn Ra emerges again. Book of the Dead 136 gives the formula for the dead to join the crew: “I sail in it with Ra”.
The vessel Two sun boats: the Mandjet, the Boat of Millions of Years, by day; the Mesektet, carrying the ram headed Ra, by night. In the Amduat's fourth hour, a desert with no water, the barque becomes a double headed, fire breathing serpent.
Sources UCL Digital Egypt · Wikipedia: Solar barque · Amduat
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Egyptian
The Neshmet Barque of Osiris Boat of a god
Cult of Abydos; Stela of Ikhernofret, Berlin 1204
Tradition Egyptian
At the festival of Osiris at Abydos, the god's journey from his temple to his tomb and his return were acted out before crowds. The Ikhernofret Stela records the funeral procession of Osiris in the Neshmet barque.
The vessel The sacred river barque that carried Osiris in procession. Having one built was recorded as a good deed in tomb inscriptions.
Sources Wikipedia: Neshmet · Ikhernofret Stela
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Egyptian, as told by Plutarch
The Papyrus Boat of Isis Boat
De Iside et Osiride, sections 13, 15 and 18
Tradition Egyptian, as told by Plutarch
Seth shuts Osiris in an ornamented chest and sends it down the Nile to the sea; it comes ashore at Byblos. Later Isis searches for the scattered parts of his body, “sailing through the swamps in a boat of papyrus” (section 18).
The vessel A papyrus boat. Plutarch says this is why crocodiles do not harm people who sail in such boats.
Sources LacusCurtius
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Egyptian
The Ferry of Mahaf Ferry of the dead
Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts and Book of the Dead (earliest drawing in the Papyrus of Ani)
Tradition Egyptian
Mahaf, “he who sees behind him”, captains the boat of Aken that carries the dead into the underworld. The dead must ask him to wake Aken so the boat will come, and he questions them on their worthiness.
The vessel A ferry boat steered by a ferryman drawn sitting with his head turned backward.
Sources Ancient Egypt Online · Wikipedia: Celestial Ferryman
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Sumerian
The Barge of Suen Boat of a god
Nanna-Suen's journey to Nibru, ETCSL 1.5.1
Tradition Sumerian
The moon god builds a barge and sails to Nibru with offerings for Enlil. At each city goddesses come out to welcome it, and the boat answers “I am going to Nibru!” Enlil grants him the carp flood, barley, fish, wine and long life (lines 340 to 348).
The vessel Built from materials gathered far and wide, reeds from Tummal and pitch from the abzu, with rushes, strakes, ribbing, planking and forest timber (lines 39 to 58).
Sources ETCSL 1.5.1
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Babylonian
Urshanabi's Ferry Ferry of the dead
Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablets X and XI
Tradition Babylonian
Gilgamesh seeks Utnapishtim beyond the sea. The boatman Urshanabi takes him across the Waters of Death, but Gilgamesh has destroyed the boat's gear, so he cuts punting poles and uses each in turn, up to the twelfth. Urshanabi later takes him home.
The vessel A boat pushed across the Waters of Death by punting poles, each five gar long with knobs of bitumen.
Sources sacred-texts.com X · XI
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Greek and Roman
Charon's Ferry Ferry of the dead
Virgil, Aeneid 6.299 and 6.383 ff; Aristophanes, Frogs 180 ff; Apuleius, The Golden Ass 6.18 ff
Tradition Greek and Roman
Charon ferries the souls of the dead across the waters of the underworld for a fare: two obols in Aristophanes, one coin in Apuleius. In Frogs he makes Dionysus row. In the Aeneid the boat sinks low under one living man, Aeneas.
The vessel Virgil's rust coloured wherry, a ramshackle craft that creaks under Aeneas and lets in muddy water at the seams, yet holds whole nations of the dead. Aristophanes calls it a wee boat.
Sources theoi.com
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Greek
The Golden Cup of Helios Boat of a god
Stesichorus; Apollodorus, Library 2.5.10; Aeschylus
Tradition Greek
Every night the Sun sails across Ocean in a golden vessel back to the east. Heracles, scorched on his way to take Geryon's cattle, aims his bow at the god, who admires his daring and lends him the cup to cross Ocean. Heracles gives it back.
The vessel A cup of solid gold (Stesichorus), a golden goblet (Apollodorus) or a golden bowl (Aeschylus), made by Hephaestus according to theoi.com.
Sources theoi.com: Helios · Apollodorus 2
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Baltic (Latvian and Lithuanian)
Saulė's Golden Boat Boat of a god
Latvian folk songs (dainas)
Tradition Baltic (Latvian and Lithuanian)
At evening the sun goddess hangs her sparkling crown on a tree and steps into a golden boat to sail through the World Sea by night, when “the Sun swims her horses”.
The vessel A golden or silver boat that takes the place of her chariot at night.
Sources Wikipedia: Saulė
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Dayak (Borneo)
The Ship of the Dead of Tempon Telon Ferry of the dead
Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, a dated compilation
Tradition Dayak (Borneo)
At the feast of the dead, provisions are laid out for the souls' journey. The ship carries the departed through the fire sea to the golden shores of the blessed.
The vessel Usually shown as a bird, a hornbill, with Tempon Telon at the helm.
Sources Encyclopedia.com
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Classic Maya
The Canoe of the Paddler Gods Canoe
Incised bones, Burial 116, Tikal; David Stuart, Maya Decipherment, 28 July 2016
Tradition Classic Maya
Two gods, the Jaguar Paddler and the Spine Paddler with a stingray spine through his nose, paddle a canoe carrying the Maize God, with a parrot, a monkey, an iguana and another animal, into the waters of the underworld.
The vessel A canoe paddled at bow and stern by the two gods.
Sources Maya Decipherment
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Norse
Hringhorni Voyaging ship
Prose Edda, Gylfaginning, chapter 49 (Brodeur)
Tradition Norse
After Baldr's death the gods mean to launch his ship as his funeral pyre, but it will not move. The giantess Hyrrokkin pushes it out with one shove, so that fire bursts from the rollers and all lands tremble.
The vessel Baldr's own ship: “it was greatest of all ships”, launched on rollers.
Sources sacred-texts.com
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Boats of the Sun, the Moon and the Dead · Arthurian
The Black Boat to Avalon Boat
Vulgate Mort Artu; Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur
Tradition Arthurian
After Camlann, Morgan and other enchantress queens, three, four or many depending on the version, come to carry the dying Arthur to Avalon. In Malory he is last seen in Morgan's lap as the boat leaves.
The vessel Malory's black boat, crewed by grieving queens in black hoods.
Sources Wikipedia: Avalon · Morgan le Fay
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.