Boats of the Old Kingdom in Egypt

In the Old Kingdom of Egypt (c. 2686–2181 BC), boats were the primary mode of transport for commerce, religion, and the afterlife. 

Primary Types of Vessels

• Papyrus Skiffs: The oldest form of watercraft, made from bundled reeds. These lightweight, shallow-draft boats were used for fishing and hunting in the Nile marshes.
• Wooden Plank Boats: By the 3rd Dynasty, Egyptians built large vessels using imported Lebanese cedar or local acacia. These lacked internal frames and were “sewn” together with heavy ropes that tightened when wet.
• Solar/Funerary Barques: Ritual vessels buried near tombs to assist the pharaoh’s soul in the afterlife. The most famous is the Khufu Ship, a 142-foot (43.4 m) vessel found next to the Great Pyramid, built with over 1,200 individual pieces.
• Cargo Ships: Heavy-duty vessels designed to transport grain, cattle, and massive stone blocks for pyramid construction. Some were large enough to carry 700-ton obelisks. 

The Old Kingdom did not have a Navy. As a result, the boats were mainly of civilian use.

Khufu Solar Barge

“Khufu’s Boats

The funerary complex of the Great Pyramid of King Khufu at Giza yielded five boat pits, of which three empty pits were discovered outside the mortuary temple of the pyramid and to the north of its causeway.

In 1954, while clearing the sand and debris that had accumulated opposite the southern side of the pyramid, two sealed pits were discovered, inside which were found the dismantled wood of King Khufu’s boats.

The first boat was discovered buried in a pit under limestone blocks. It took more than 10 years to reassemble the first boat, which is a huge wooden structure with a total length of 42.32 meters. 

Several plans to relocate the boat were proposed since the 1970s, but concerns over the risks of dismantling it prevented execution. In 2019, a decision was made to transport the entire boat intact to the Grand Egyptian Museum, following extensive engineering and archaeological studies to ensure its safety during the move. Preparations included reinforcing the transport platform, constructing a large protective steel structure, performing precise conservation and sterilization work, and running simulation tests using a specialized smart vehicle.

The move was successfully completed over three days in August 2021. The boat was transported over a distance of 8 kilometers to the Grand Egyptian Museum and lifted into the new building using a massive crane. This historic move aimed to safeguard one of humanity’s oldest and most important organic artefacts, provide it with a modern and secure museum environment worthy of its exceptional value, eliminate visual disruption around the pyramid, and offer the public a world-class museum experience.

The extraction of the wooden pieces of the second boat began in 2014.

The second boat has been excavated, conserved and transported to the GEM, where visitors will be able to witness its real-time conservation and reconstruction as part of a dynamic display.

The two boats of King Khufu are displayed in a separate museum building on the campus of the Grand Egyptian Museum, specially designed to highlight the two unique monuments considered among the oldest wooden boats and organic relics known in the history of humankind. The function of those boats is still disputed.

It is, however, generally assumed that they were either used as transport boats during the king’s funeral or were intended for use in the otherworldly voyage of King Khufu in the company of the sun god Re.“

from the introduction in the GEM

Museum Pieces

Fishing/Hunting

There were hippopotamus and Nile crocodiles in the Nile Delta up well into the Roman period. Initially hippos were hunted for meat and hides. Eventually it became a Royal past time and was recorded on the tomb walls. There are a great variety of fish depicted on the tomb walls. (wall carvings colorized using AI)

Under Sail

Sail was the preferred mode of transportation. What caught my eye was the bipod masts that seem commonplace in their descriptions. (wall carvings colorized using AI)

“Ancient Egypt used bipod masts, shaped like an ‘A’ or two poles joined at the top, on their early wooden ships (Old Kingdom) because flat-bottomed hulls couldn’t support the concentrated force of a single mast, the bipod design spreading the weight for stability and allowing the mast to be lowered easily, eventually giving way to single-pole masts as shipbuilding improved.”  (google)

More Egyptian vacation blogs are in the works.

Mark, Wink, Meg and Kate-Lynne