https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/08/ancient-egyptian-pleasure-boat-found-archaeologists-alexandria-coast
'an ancient pleasure boat decreed' ;)
Does it have purple sails? (So perfumed that the winds were lovesick with them.)
No indication that it has sails at all :(
Presumably vessels like this were the inspiration for the similar and roughly contemporaneous ships (of Caligulan date) discovered at Lake Nemi in the Alban Hills south of Rome.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemi_ships
The ship museum at Nemi is a rather forlorn and depressing visit as the impressive fascist-era building lost its prime exhibits to a fire caused by Allied shelling in 1944. The one-fifth scale modern replicas are still quite impressive though, and the surviving bronze fittings hint at the ostentation, and the weight, of their fittings and decoration.
Quote from: Duncan Head on Dec 11, 2025, 07:02 PMNo indication that it has sails at all :(
Are you sure?
(https://asterix.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Asterix-and-Obelixs-Birthday-%E2%80%93-The-Golden-Book-3.jpg)
;D