All Topics  
Khufu ship

 
Khufu Ship

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Khufu ship
 
 
  Topics Khufu ship Topic Home

The Khufu ship is an intact full-size vessel from Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
 that was sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex
Giza pyramid complex

The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments is located some 8 km inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 km southwest of Cairo city centre....
 at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza
Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza, also called Khufu's Pyramid or the Pyramid of Khufu, and Pyramid of Cheops, is the oldest and largest of the three Egyptian pyramidss in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo , Egypt, and is the only remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World....
 around 2,500 BC. The ship was almost certainly built for Khufu
Khufu

Khufu was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around 2589 to 2566 B.C. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt....
 (King Cheops), the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty
Fourth dynasty of Egypt

The Fourth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, also written Dynasty 4 and Dynasty IV, is characterized as a golden age of the Old Kingdom....
 of the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Ancient Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement ? this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley ....
 of Egypt.

History
It is one of the oldest, largest, and best-preserved vessels from antiquity.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Khufu ship'
Start a new discussion about 'Khufu ship'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Barque Solaire2
The Khufu ship is an intact full-size vessel from Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
 that was sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex
Giza pyramid complex

The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments is located some 8 km inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 km southwest of Cairo city centre....
 at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza
Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza, also called Khufu's Pyramid or the Pyramid of Khufu, and Pyramid of Cheops, is the oldest and largest of the three Egyptian pyramidss in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo , Egypt, and is the only remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World....
 around 2,500 BC. The ship was almost certainly built for Khufu
Khufu

Khufu was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around 2589 to 2566 B.C. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt....
 (King Cheops), the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty
Fourth dynasty of Egypt

The Fourth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, also written Dynasty 4 and Dynasty IV, is characterized as a golden age of the Old Kingdom....
 of the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Ancient Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement ? this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley ....
 of Egypt.

History


It is one of the oldest, largest, and best-preserved vessels from antiquity. It measures 43.6 m (143 ft) long and 5.9 m (19.5 ft) wide.

It was identified as the world's oldest intact ship and has been described as "a masterpiece of woodcraft" that could sail today if put into water. However, the vessel may not have been designed for sailing (no rigging) or paddling (no room).

The ship was rediscovered in 1954 by Kamal el-Mallakh
Kamal el-Mallakh

Kamal el-Mallakh was a famous Egyptian archaeologist who discovered The King Khufu Solar ship in 1950....
, undisturbed since it was sealed into a pit carved out of the Giza bedrock. It was built largely of Lebanon cedar
Cedar

Cedar is a genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae. They are most closely related to the Firs , sharing a very similar cone structure....
 planking in the "shell-first" construction technique, contains no keel
Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, the construction is dated from this event, with only the ship's Ship_naming_and_launching considered more significant in its creati...
 (minimal frame construction), and has been reconstructed from 1,224 pieces which had been laid in a logical, disassembled order in the pit beside the pyramid. It took years for the boat to be painstakingly reassembled, primarily by the Egyptian Department of Antiquities’ chief restorer, Ahmed Youssef Moustafa (later known as Hag Ahmed Youssef).

The history and function of the ship are not precisely known. It is of the type known as a "solar barge", a ritual vessel to carry the resurrected king with the sun god Ra
Ra

Ra is an ancient Egyptian Solar deity . By the Fifth dynasty of Egypt he became a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the noon, with other deities representing other positions of the sun....
 across the heavens. However, it bears some signs of having been used in water, and it is possible that the ship was either a funerary "barge" used to carry the king's embalmed body from Memphis to Giza, or even that Khufu himself used it as a "pilgrimage ship" to visit holy places and that it was then buried for him to use in the afterlife.

The Khufu ship has been on display to the public in a specially built museum at the Giza pyramid complex since 1982.

See also

  • Solar barge
  • Ancient Egyptian technology
    Ancient Egyptian technology

    The characteristics of Ancient Egyptian technology are indicated by a set of artifacts and customs that lasted for thousands of years. The Egyptians invented and used many basic machines, such as the inclined plane and the lever, to aid construction processes....


Further reading

  • Nancy Jenkins - The boat beneath the pyramid: King Cheops' royal ship (1980) ISBN 0-03-057061-1
  • Paul Lipke - The royal ship of Cheops: a retrospective account of the discovery, restoration and reconstruction. Based on interviews with Hag Ahmed Youssef Moustafa (Oxford: B.A.R., 1984) ISBN 0-86054-293-9


External links

  • The Solar Barque, Nova Online