"It is my belief that the boats were buried to serve symbolically -- they would transport the dead king on his daily journey with the sun god across the sky," Hawass explained. The ancient Egyptians believed that the sun traveled from east to west in a "day boat," moving to a "night boat" for the return trip to the underworld. "The second boat was intended to carry the king across the daytime sky, while the first one was for his night voyage," Hawass said. He believes that the king would have been thought to travel through a channel that leads from the south side of the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid. "The oars would have been used symbolically by the sun god to kill the wild creatures that threatened him on his journey," Hawass said As for the boat being disassembled -- that wasn't a problem. "The sun god knew how to reconstruct it. That's why they dismantled these ships and buried them in a pit," Hawass explained. One of the most interesting aspects about these boats is the technology with which they were built and then dismantled. Basically, they were stored like Ikea furniture -- pre-fabricated and ready for assembly. In the case of Khufu's first ship, the timbers were carefully placed in the underground chamber, and stacked in a sequence that basically led to the vessel's finished form. "The Egyptians had a very strong understanding on how to treat, conserve and recycle wood timbers," Ward said. "Amazingly, they were able to take these boats apart and package them for travel." Related Links: Discovery News blog: Archaeorama |
advertisement
Download Archaeology News At Bottom!
|
-
our sites
-
video
mobile
-
shop
-
stay connected
-
corporate
