Cheops’ Stunning Solar Boat Is 4,500 Years Old and Found Broken Down in 1224 Pieces
Despite countless and very important archaeological discoveries,ancient Egypt still retains many mysteries. One of these, for example, concerns the function of the famous ‘solar ship’ of Cheops,found in a pit on the south side of the Great Pyramid.
The valuable find took place in 1954,by Egyptian archaeologist Kamal el-Mallakh. Buried in a hole at the foot of the Pyramid, the solar ship of Cheops lay there undisturbed from about 2,500 BC, broken down into 1224 pieces of cedar wood.
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It took not months, but 13 years,to reassemble it: the chief restorer of the Department of Antiquities, Haj Ahmed Youssef, studied every possible detail to figure out how to put all the pieces back together, analyzing ancient reliefs and models of ships found in the tombs. He also sought advice from those who built boats to sail the Nile, in the hope that someone would preserve some notion of the ancient naval technique.
The precise function of ‘solar ships’, also found in other Egyptian tombs, is not entirely clear. Perhaps it was the ship on which Pharaoh made his last voyage, from Memphis to the Great Pyramid, or it could be a replica of what was actually used as a funeral procession.
We must also consider the possible symbolic function of the ‘solar boat’, so called because perhaps it represented the means by which the sun made its tour between the realm of light and that of the dead. In this case the ship would have served to bring the deceased pharaoh to the afterlife.
One of the most intriguing mysteries for archaeologists is the separation into so many pieces of the solar boat. The ship was 44 meters long, and for us modern men inexplicable the reason why the boat was broken down into 1224 pieces.
Nevertheless, the ship of Cheops is one of the most important archaeological finds of Ancient Egypt, because it is one of the best preserved intact boats of antiquity, a masterpiece of carpentry that, if put in the water, could still sail, although in reality (probably) it was not intended for this function.
Since 1982, Cheops’ boat has been on display in a dedicated museum, beside the Great Pyramid, as the ancient Pharaoh had wanted it.
Below, as the ship looked at the time of the find:
the Solar Boat today.
