The discovery of Khufu's first boat is one of the greatest discoveries of the twentieth century, and it was found on this day, May 26, 1954 AD. It was found on the southern side of the Great Pyramid.
After that, Kamal Al-Malakh and Ahmed Youssef worked on discovering, restoring and re-installing the first boat, which came to light after staying in the ground for nearly 5000 years. It is known as the sun boat and is currently displayed in its museum, which opened in 1982 AD.
The compound of King Khufu (2551-2528 BC), which is located south of his Great Pyramid and specifically on the eastern side of its southern side, and this discovery caused a global storm of interest that amazed the world.
As for the story of the discovery, the Egyptian engineer Kamal Al-Mallakh was doing cleaning and removing rubble south of the Great Pyramid, so he revealed two holes for two boats covered with blocks of good limestone, and that the Great Pyramid has three other holes carved into the natural rock of the Giza Plateau that take the form of boats on the eastern side of the pyramid, located Two of them are on the southern and northern sides of the mortuary temple, while the third hole is located north of the ascending path of the Great Pyramid.
Dr. Hussein Abdel-Basir, Egyptologist and director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum, explained that in the first pit, which is located southeast of the Great Pyramid, Kamal Al-Malakh found forty-one huge blocks of good limestone on its surface from the royal quarries of Toura, and inside this long pit. About 31.2 m long, 2.6 m wide, and 3.5 m deep. A large wooden boat was found disassembled into about 1224 wooden pieces of cedar wood coming from Lebanon, placed very carefully in 13 layers in their original places, and of different lengths between 23 m and 10 cm, in addition to loads of ropes and mats, and his own paddles.
The able Egyptian restorer, Hajj Ahmed Youssef, undertook the restoration of this boat, and he restored it to what it was in the days of the Pharaohs. Ten oars: five on each side, ranging in length from 6.5 to 8.5 m. The main cabin is preceded by the captain's cabin at the front of the boat. The rudder consists of two large oars. The boat weighs about 45 tons.
And not a single metal nail was used in the manufacture of this boat, as the ancient Egyptian here used the method of "the lover and the lover" and the ropes in forming the parts of this large-sized boat.
Sun, May. 28, 2023
