A pleasure barge is a flat-bottomed, slow-moving boat used for leisure. It is contrasted with a standard barge, which is used to transport freight. Many places where canals or rivers play a prominent role have developed pleasure barges for conducting religious ceremonies, holding waterborne festivities, or viewing scenery. History Barges of all kinds were commonly used on the Nile in ancient Egypt. When the Pharaoh Akhenaten revolutionized Egyptian religion, he renamed his pleasure barge "Splendor of Aten", after his dominant god. A miniature of a royal barge was found amongst the items in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The most famous Egyptian barge, the Thalamegos, is that used by Cleopatra VII of Ptolemaic Egypt when she arrived in luxurious state to seduce Mark Antony and also allegedly when she sailed up the Nile with Julius Caesar. 11th-century Chinese writer Ouyang Xiu mentions a pleasure barge in his poetry with oars the color of orchids (or magnolias, depending on the translation). An ivory model of a Qing Dynasty imperial pleasure barge exists at the Vancouver Maritime Museum. In 1357, King Boromtrailokanat of Ayudhaya, in what would later become Thailand, decreed a yearly barge race. His barge would compete against the barge of his consort. If the consort's barge won, then the year would bring abundance. If the King's barge won then it would signify hardship. The consort's barge was usually allowed to win. A later Thai king included a royal barge bearing Buddhist relics in his war party against Burma. By the 17th century, royal Thai barge processions included more than 100 barges, and oarsmen wore matching red garments and gold jewelry. Wealthy states which relied on water trade sometimes developed barges specifically linked to the ruling class. A painting by Jan van de Cappelle from 1650 depicts the state barge of the Netherlands being saluted by gun blasts from battle ships. The doges of Venice also traveled by a state barge, the Bucentaur, especially to perform the yearly held Marriage of the Sea. The Grand Canal de Versailles at Versailles served as a setting for elaborate play barges in the 17th and 18th centuries. The gilded goddess figurehead from Marie Antoinette's barge survives, and Napoleon commissioned a ceremonial barge for his official visit to the port of Brest in 1810. The latter is at the French Musée national de la Marine. Until the middle of the 19th century, pleasure barges were