The evidence of seafaring in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean world goes back as far as 9,000 B.C. This includes evidence of obsidian trade from the Greek island of Melos, as well as hunting activities (but not settlement) on the island of Cyprus.
While several wooden dug out canoes are preserved in Europe that are older than the Royal Ship of Khufu, we begin this course by looking at the oldest well-preserved wooden planked vessel so far uncovered and studied.
During the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingom of Egypt, the three famous pyamids were built at Giza by three successive Pharaos: Khufu (called Χέωψ - Cheops - in Ancient Greek) who ruled from 2589 to 2566 B.C, Khafre (or Chephren in Greek) and Menkaure (Mykerinos or Mycerinus in Greek)
The largest of the pyramids was the Great Pyramid, built by the Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops). Near the base of the great pyramid are 5 underground chambers. In each of these chambers the ancient Egyptians placed a dismantled boats for the Pharaoh's use in the afterlife.
Map of the Giza Complex. Click for Larger Version
In 1952, work began on opening the first chamber: a large pit covered with a giant limestone block sealed witih gypsum mortar. Inside were the almost perfectly-preserved remains of one of the Pharaoh's funerary ship, completely disassembled into 1,224 components.
Ship Timbers in situ
Symbols carved into each of these piece denote its position within the hull so that the vessel could bem ore easily reassembled in the next world (or by modern nautical archaeologists!) The vessel has been resassembled, with some damaged or missing pieces repaired and modern lashings and is now on display in a specially constructed museum next to the Great Pyramid. A second chamber has been drilled into with the remains of anther ship visible inside. Unfortunately, it appears that during the construction of the museum, vibrations from the heavy machinery cracked the seal on this chamber, leading to a lot of damage to the pieces inside from exposure.
The Royal Barge of Khufu (Cheops)
This ship is overwhelming, both in beauty and size.
- 95% is Lebanon Cedar Cedrus libani
- Tenons of sidder (a.k.a Christ's thorn)
- Acacia used in superstructure
- Cordage of halfa grass (more than a mile)
- The hull bottom curves up noticeably at either end in a continuous, graceful curve.
- This is a rockered hull--it has the shape of a rocking-chair rocker.
- The bow ends in a very straight and vertical upright timber called the stem.
- At the stern, the sternpost turns abruptly forward and then turns back slightly at its extremity.
- The vessel is made of wooden planking BUT its shape is patterned after the shape of early Egyptian papyrus raft boats
The ship measures
43.6 m (143 feet) long, 5.9 m (19.5 feet) wide
Note how
We call this a papyriform hull
a papyrus boat image
Here are some rock-cut representations of papyrus raft boats found in Nubia dating to before the beginning of dynastic times in the 4th millennium B.C.
- Cheops ship had a flat hull bottom and forms a hard angle with either side of the hull.
- this angle is called the chine.
- Cheops ship has no keel - that is, it does not have a heavy timber instead of a plank running along the longitudinal centerline of the hull bottom--nor, as far as we know, did any Egyptian vessels have a keel until at least 1000 years later on. However, as you can see, the bottom planking is slightly thicker than the side planking.
12 long paddles were found on the vessel--they were for steering
- Apparently the vessel was designed neither to be paddled (no room) or sailed (no rigging) but to be towed instead.
The vessel has a large cabin at the stern and a smaller canopied area near the bow.
The hull was not built in the skeleton first manner with which we are familiar today. That is, a skeleton of keel and ribs (more properly called frames) was NOT erected first, to which the hull planking was then fastened.
- instead, the hull was
- in shell building, the hull planking is all fastened together to form the shell of the hull
- then framing deemed necessary is added to stiffen the hull.
- the hull planking strakes were edged-joined, that is, they were fastened together edge to edge to form a hull with a smooth outer surface.
tenons--made of Cedar, a very hard Egyptian wood-- set in matching pairs of mortices cut into the edges of neighboring planks.
- then, the planking was held permanently in place by rope lashings that ran through a series of v-shaped channels cut on the interior face of the planking
- no metal fasteners whatsoeverwere used in the construction of the hull
- the seams between the planking were caulked on the inside with papyrus fiber held in place by wooden battens, lashed into
- he hull was stiffened-strengthened and its shape was maintained--in several ways.
1. a great number of thwarts (cross-beams) were installed - these were lashed into notches in the deck level timbers
2. a small number of frames were also installed--there were only 12 in all in this vessel which was 143 ft. long.
- these frames were lashed in place by some of the lashings that held the planking together.
-Long planks were quite hard to find so the builders used shorter timbers joined together.
sections of wood are short - to make long timbers and strong joints, graceful s-shaped scarfs.
S-Scarf
- men shaping a tree trunk into a squared timber
- here, others use axes for the rough work, and an adze to finish planks.
- men are chiseling with chisels and mallets out mortices in the edge of a plank for mortice and tenon joints to edge-join the planking together.
1. Wood intensive
2. Labor intensive
3. Timbers were edge joined in hull first construction - then, men worked with adzes to carve out the finished shape of the hull
- Mortise and tenon joinery was used for the planking.
- later in history, we shall see that this type of construction was too costly and impractical
- with a paid labor force and plenty of large trees, the concept of naval architecture would change significantly.
- in less centrally controlled societies, Cheops vessel would have been built much differently.