Naval

Ancient Egypt: Ships and Boats

The slow flowing Nile was ideal for transportation and from earliest times Egyptians built boats for transportation, fishing and enjoyment. Their importance in everyday life is reflected in the role they played in mythology and religion. Little is left of actual boats. Remains of Old Kingdom boats were found at Tarkhan and Abydos, and King Khufu's ...

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Ancient Egypt: Early Ship Construction

Khufu's Solar Boat. In modern ship construction a skeleton is built first which is then covered with a skin. During the Old and Middle Kingdoms ships were built from the outside in. This way of doing things was mostly due to a lack of timber suitable for keels, but continued for centuries after they began importing cedar wood from Byblos which was ...

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Ancient Egyptians Boat

By Dr. Sherin ElKhawaga. Egyptians pioneered the development of river craft and there were many different types built for various uses. Agricultural produce, troops, cattle, stone and funeral processions were all carried on the Nile and its canals. These boats were made of bundles of bound papyrus reeds. Papyrus is different from paper because papy...

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The Barge of Pharaoh Khufu

The state barge of King Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty. Based on the preserved Nile barge found beside the Great Pyramid and a relief representation from the Fifth Dynasty temple of Sahure, this reconstruction shows a royal state ship of the type known to the Egyptians as a dwa-towy (that which the Two Lands praise). The Great Pyramid example, which w...

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