Egyptian ship 2500 BCE
The intact full-sized ark from ancient Egypt has been sealed in a pit at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza since around 2500 BC (4500 years old).
Khufu’s ship is one of the oldest, largest, and best preserved ships from antiquity; It is 43.6 m (143 ft) long and 5.9 m (19.5 ft) wide.
It was identified as the world’s oldest intact ship and has been described as “A masterpiece of woodcraft” that could sail today if put into water.
The history and function of the ship are not exactly known, it is known as a “solar barge” a ritual ship that carries the deceased king with the sun god “Ra” across the heavens.
However, it bears some signs of having been used in water and it is possible that the ship was either a funerary “barge” used to carry the king’s embalmed body from Memphis to Giza, or even that Khufu himself used it as a “pilgrimage ship ” to visit holy places then it was then buried for him to use in the afterlife.
