According to the Associated Press; The Great Egyptian Museum in Cairo has become the scene of a rare eve, and visitors can watch live the assembly of the ancie pharaoh’s ship. In the “Great Egyptian Museum” exhibition hall, restoration experts have begun to connect the pieces of the second ship belonging to Pharaoh Khufu in a breath-taking action.
This project was launched yesterday morning in the presence of dozens of eager visitors, so that the 4500-year-old history of Egypt will be revived, this time not behind the closed doors of laboratories, but in fro of the public. The 42-meter (137-foot) vessel, built eirely of cedar wood, is scheduled to be displayed alongside its pre-assembled twin upon completion.
According to Issa Zidan, head of the restoration departme of the Grand Egyptian Museum, it will take about four years to complete this ancie puzzle, which includes 1,650 delicate wooden pieces.
Photographer: Unknown / egyptian-gazette.com
“Sherif Fathy”, the Minister of Tourism and Aiquities of Egypt, who was prese at the initiation ceremony of this project, said, referring to the global importance of this eve:
Today, you are witnessing one of the most importa restoration projects of ancie monumes in the 21st ceury.
Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, ruled Egypt ceuries ago, and this ship is one of the two vessels that were discovered on the south side of his pyramid in 1954; However, the excavation of its parts did not start uil 2014.
Although the exact purpose of making these boats is still a mystery, archaeologists believe that they were either used to carry the pharaoh’s body in burial ceremonies or were designed as “Solar Boats” for his journey in the afterlife with “Ra”. The ancie Egyptians believed that Ra, the sun god, traveled across the sky in a boat every day to bring light to the world, and at night traveled to the underworld (the world of the dead) to rise again. These boats were buried next to the pharaoh’s tomb or pyramid so that the king could resurrect after death and accompany the sun god on this eternal heavenly journey.
This project is implemeed in the heart of the 1 billion dollar Egyptian museum, which with 50,000 ancie artifacts and Tutankhamun’s treasure, is Egypt’s main hope for economic and tourism revival.
