Archaeologists begin to unearth ancient Egyptian King Khufu ship

Egyptian and Japanese archaeologists began to unearth an ancient boat belonging to King Khufu and buried near the Giza pyramids for more than 4,500 years.

A mission from Japan’s Waseda University, the Japanese Institute of the Solar Boat and Egypt’s antiquities ministry have been preparing to lift the boat from its underground pit for the past two years.

The project is “one of the most important” archaeological projects, antiquities minister of state Zahi Hawass said at the site.

It is one of two boats belonging to King Khufu, or Cheops, a fourth dynasty ruler who built the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Solar boats were buried with the Pharaohs in the belief that they would carry them to the afterlife.

The boat was first discovered in 1987 in a large pit covered by 41 limestone blocks, weighing 16 tons each.

Scientists have lifted the first stone slab and are expected to remove parts of the wooden boat for restoration and reassembly.

The finished boat will be exhibited at the Giza plateau along with its sister vessel which went on display in 1982 following 13 years of reconstruction.

Mr Hawass said he hoped the project would give a much-needed boost to the country’s vital tourism industry which was paralysed by the uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak and has been struggling to recover ever since.

Also known by his Greek name, Cheops, the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, famous for building the Great Pyramid at Giza.

Khufu’s full name was Khnum-Khufwy, which means ‘the god’ Khnum protect me’. He was the son of Sneferu and Queen Hetepheres I, and is believed to have had three wives. He is famous for building the Great Pyramid at Giza, one of the seven wonders of the world, but apart from this, we know very little about him. His only surviving statue is, ironically, the smallest piece of Egyptian royal sculpture ever discovered: A 7.5- centimetre-high ivory statue found at Abydos.

Khufu came to the throne, probably during his twenties, and at once began work on his pyramid. The entire project took about 23 years to complete, during which time 2,300,000 building blocks, weighing an average of 2.5 tons each, were moved. His nephew Hemiunu was appointed head of construction for the Great Pyramid.

Khufu was the first pharaoh to build a pyramid at Giza. The sheer scale of this monument stands as testament to his skills in commanding the material and human resources of his country. It is now believed the pyramids were built using conscripted labour rather than slaves.

The idea that Khufu used slaves to build the pyramid comes from Greek historian Herodotus. He also describes Khufu as a cruel and wicked leader who prostituted his daughter when he ran short of money. But the Westcar Papyrus describes Khufu as a traditional oriental monarch: Good-natured, amiable to his inferiors and interested in the nature of human existence and magic.

Despite not being remembered as fondly as his father, the funerary cult of Khufu was still followed in the 26th Dynasty, and he became increasingly popular during the Roman period.