The arrival of King Khufu's first boat to the Grand Egyptian Museum
The Grand Egyptian Museum received early this morning, Saturday, the first boat of King Khufu, 48 hours after the start of the process of transferring it from the place where it was displayed in the antiquities area of the pyramid.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said, in a statement on the Egyptian Cabinet’s page on Facebook today, that the project to transfer the first Khufu boat “aims to preserve the largest, oldest and most important organic monument, made of wood, in human history, which is the first Khufu boat, Which is more than 4600 years old, and displayed in a decent manner commensurate with its importance in the Grand Egyptian Museum.
Major General Atef Moftah, General Supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum project and the surrounding area, explained that the process of transferring the first Khufu boat is one of the most important and complex and unique archaeological engineering projects, stressing that the work team did not leave anything in it to chance or experience, as it is the product of effort, fatigue, effort, study and planning. And preparation and hard work spanned nearly a year.
He pointed out that the process of transporting the boat "was carried out with great precision while ensuring all means of protection for the boat, which was moved as one piece inside a metal structure and was lifted to the smart cart with a remote control mechanism, which was brought in specifically for this purpose from the outside, to settle the boat in its new location in the museum building. Khufu boats in the Grand Egyptian Museum.
In turn, Dr. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, confirmed that the process of transferring the Khufu boat came to preserve the boat that was displayed in a museum in its name that was built on the site where it was discovered in 1954 at the southern side of the Great Pyramid in the area of the pyramid antiquities, which has remained for decades. It distorts the aesthetic view of the Great Pyramid, the only surviving wonder of the ancient seven wonders, but the means of display and preservation of the boat do not keep pace with the modern and advanced methods and methods of display, so it had to be transferred to preserve it for future generations.
Waziri added that the preparatory work for the implementation of the transport project was carried out by high-level archaeological engineering committees in cooperation with local and international scientific bodies, with full commitment to the need to secure the boat and not expose it to any risks during the transport process.
He added that last August, the Khufu Boat Museum was closed in the pyramid antiquities area, and work began to rehabilitate the boat to transfer it to the Khufu boat building in the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is currently equipped with the latest scientific and technological methods for museum display, in addition to modern monitoring and measurement devices to preserve this important organic monument. and unique.
Dr. Al-Tayeb Abbas, Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Archaeological Affairs at the Grand Egyptian Museum, said that the process of removing the boat from its old headquarters faced great complications and challenges, which were overcome, and a quick plan was developed to strengthen the boat and the building.
In turn, Dr. Issa Zeidan, Executive Director of the Restoration and Transfer of Antiquities in the Museum, said that the boat was mechanically cleaned and completely sterilized during all stages of work, in addition to strengthening the weak parts of the boat’s body, injecting and strengthening some cracks, and wrapping some pieces that were disassembled such as oars, and that Using the scientific methods used in transporting and packaging antiquities and securing them inside the wooden boxes that were prepared in advance specifically for them.
