CAIRO — Egypt has transported the
Pharaoh Khufu's intact solar boat
dating back some 4,600 years to the country's soon to be unveiled grand museum,
the antiquities ministry said on Saturday.
اضافة اعلان
Solar boats were buried in pits next to royal burial chambers in the belief
that they would transport the departed into the afterlife.
Cairo's Great Pyramid -- also known as the Pyramid of Cheops -- is the
largest of the three Giza pyramids and houses Khufu's tomb.
"After... crossing the streets of Giza on a smart vehicle, the first
boat of King Khufu discovered in 1954 at the southern corner of the Great
Pyramid has terminated its long journey to the Grand Egyptian Museum
(GEM)," a ministry statement said.
The boat was commissioned by Khufu, a Fourth Dynasty monarch who ruled during
the Old Kingdom.
The ministry boasted that the 42-metre (138-foot) long and 20-tonne solar
boat is "the biggest and oldest organic artifact made of wood, in the
history of humanity".
Its journey on a special remote-controlled vehicle imported from Belgium
began late on Friday and took 10 hours, the official MENA news agency
reported.
Egypt has touted the anticipated opening of the GEM at the Giza plateau,
home to the famed pyramids, as an important archaeological landmark housing its
most precious antiquities.
The vessel was transported intact on its 7.5-kilometre journey, and is set
to be one of the star exhibits when the new museum opens.
It had been on display near the Great Pyramid.
Egypt has pinned its hopes on a series of recent archaeological discoveries
to revive its vital but ailing tourism sector which has suffered multiple
shocks, from the 2011 uprising to today's coronavirus pandemic.
In April, authorities moved the mummified remains of 22 pharaohs from
Cairo's iconic Egyptian Museum in a grandiose ceremony to the National Museum
of Egyptian Civilization in the city.
In a carefully choreographed televised event, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
greeted the coffins that included the mummies of Ramses II and Queen
Hatshepsut.
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