Khufu Ship: Ancient Egyptian Marvel

The Khufu Ship is considered one of the most prominent archaeological landmarks that reflect the ingenuity of ancient Egyptian civilization. This ship was discovered near the pyramids and belongs to King Khufu, one of the most important pharaohs.

This ship contains amazing details in art and architecture and reflects aspects of the cultural and spiritual life of ancient Egypt.

In this article, we will learn about the Khufu Ship, this giant ship that was part of religious life and worship at that time.

This ship also expresses some of the social, economic and political aspects that prevailed in ancient Egypt at that time.

Discovery of the Khufu Ship

This ship was first discovered in 1954 It was located next to the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza. This ship was discovered by the Egyptian archaeologist Kamal Al-Mallah, as there were two holes next to the Khufu Pyramid and this ship was found in one of these holes. 

This ship is one of the most important ships in the history of ancient Egypt because it expressed the ingenuity of the Egyptians in designing and building ships since the ancient Pharaonic era.

This ship consisted of 1224 parts and when this ship was found, no part was missing from it.

The second pit contained other parts of other boats that were discovered in 1987, but they were extracted from this pit in 2013. These boats were installed and displayed next to the Giza Pyramids. When these pits were discovered, they were dominated from above by wide stone pieces measuring about 4 x 5 m in length and 85 cm in width. 

Many hieroglyphic writings were drawn on these stones including the works responsible for transporting these stones. The names of King Khufu and King Khafre were also written on them. It was believed that the Egyptians used these boats on the Nile, especially the king, and they were placed in this place because they were made there.

Khufu Ship Design

After the discovery of the ship the ancient Egyptians reassembled it and this took about 10 years. It was about 42 meters long and this ship was made entirely of cedar wood.

This ship was one of the funeral ships that the ancient Egyptians used in that era in preparation for the afterlife. The ancient Egyptians believed that some gods ride these ships and ascend to the sun to take them on a heavenly journey during the night.

This ship was also used to place the bodies of kings after their death during funeral ceremonies. This ship is considered the first ship to be made in Egypt.

There are many myths among the ancient Egyptians that linked the god Ra to the sun and they believed that the sun greets him when it rises every day and some monkeys dance when the sun appears, which greets the sacred god Ra, then he boards the ship that sails to take him on a journey in the underworld.

There were many myths that the ancient Egyptians told about this journey, and therefore sun worship spread widely in northern Egypt and there were many ancient Egyptians who called themselves the son of Ra.

Transfer of the Khufu ship

The Khufu ship, which was displayed for a period next to the pyramid, was transferred to the new Egyptian Museum. This transfer was in one of the largest processions in Egyptian history.

It is a ship that is about 4,600 years old and was transferred to be displayed in a decent manner among all the Egyptian antiquities in the Grand Egyptian Museum.

The transfer process was carried out with the utmost precision by a group of archaeologists, as it was lifted onto a specially designed control mechanism cart to lift the ship on.

The Grand Egyptian Museum restoration team helped in this work, conducting a comprehensive laser scan of the Khufu ship to know the most accurate details of the transfer.

A metal structure was made to place the ship inside it, and a survey was made of the rocky ground in the old Sun Museum to see if it could bear this extra weight or not. Then the ship was transported in a correct and safe manner to its new location in the Grand Egyptian Museum.

Pyramid area boats

There are about seven excavators in the Giza Pyramids area, all of which contained boats. These boats were assembled and displayed in the Pyramids area, including the Khufu ship which was displayed for a period next to the pyramids, then it was transferred to the Solar Boat Museum in Giza. All of these boats expressed the ingenuity of the ancient Egyptians in design.

These boats were named the first King Khufu boat, the second King Khufu boat, the second Khentkaus boat, the Khafre boat, the Den boat, and the Senusret III boat.

Solar boats

Solar boats are considered one of the types of religious boats and were used to make many trips during the day only, and this type of boat was used to worship the god Ra, as the ancient Egyptians believed since ancient times that he was sailing and rowing until he reached the stars and he also used it to kill evil spirits and predatory animals, especially those in the underworld, so the entire people recognized his merit and his worship spread widely.

Sacred boats

There are many other sacred boats that were found after the discovery of the Khufu ship, and the ancient Egyptians used to place these boats in the Holy of Holies inside the temples, and the priests used to place a statue representing him to visit the temples such as the visit of the god Amun to the Luxor Temple, and these ships were made specifically for this purpose and did not sail.

War boats

These boats were made specifically for use by the Egyptians during war and were drawn on many walls of temples for the ancient Egyptians and were used in many naval battles, especially in the era of King Ramses III, the last of the warrior kings in Egypt against the Sea Peoples who invaded Egypt.

Worldly boats

These boats were used to transport goods on the Nile especially granite extracted from the quarries of Aswan or limestone from Tura.

These materials were transported by boats across the Nile to the places where the pyramids were built or to the Luxor Temple or the Karnak Temple, depending on the area in which they were located The ancient Egyptians worked on it and needed these materials at that time.

FAQs

What is the purpose of building the Khufu ship?

The Khufu ship was built for use in some religious rituals as well as some sea voyages belonging to King Khufu.

What types of wood was the Khufu ship built from?

The Khufu ship was built from a type of cedar wood which is one of the best types of wood used in building ships at that time.

Were there other ships similar to the Khufu ship?

Some other ships have been discovered that were similar to the Khufu ship, but the Khufu ship is considered the most prominent, famous and most accurate in its manufacture.

At the end of this article we have learned about the Khufu ship and how the ancient Egyptians excelled in building and using this ship, so it was displayed in the most important Egyptian museums as a symbol of the ingenuity of the ancient Egyptians, and we hope that you will like this article.