141 ft. Sea-worthy Vessel Buried in Egypt

Graham Hancock writes in Fingerprints of the Gods of pits, some of which were sealed and investigated using fibre-optics, containing very large ships just south of the Great Pyramid.

These ships were high-prowed sea-going vessel[s] reaching 141 ft. in length. The largest of these ships is currently kept in the so-called Boat Museum beneath the south face of the Pyramid.

Fingerprints of the Gods p. 280-281
Made of cedarwood, the beautiful ship in the museum was still in perfect condition 4500 years after it had been built. With a displacement of around 40 tons, its design was particularly thought-provoking, incorporating, in the words of one expert all the sea-going ship's characteristic properties, with prow and stern soaring upward, higher than in a Viking ship, to ride out the breakers and high seas, not to contend with the little ripples of the Nile

I am not sure exactly how these ships were dated and by whom, however, if dated correctly, these ships would have been present at the very beginning of Egypt's 3000-year history. Hancock goes on to say that the Ancient Egyptians had been very good at making scale models and representations of all manner of things for symbolic purposes. The linked article suggests an explaination of them as symbolic of the solar journey of the deceased king with the gods.

I understand that grandeur was a common attribute of the Pharoah's displays of power, but I still have to ask the same question as Graham Hancock...Why were these grand ships constructed, and possibly more importantly, if not built by the Ancient Egyptians - them by whom?

Note:The opinion that these vessels are sea-worthy and/or were sea-going are those of Graham Hancock and his authorities he mentions within the book and are not of mine for I have no authority on sea-going vessels

Photo and brief description of the largest ship

[edit on 7-9-2005 by Howard the Dolphin]

I'm by no means an expert on sea-going vessels either.... but shouldn't the ship have sails/masts of some time for when they reached the open sea.

Not necessarily. Noah's ark was built without any form of propulsion, if you believe the historical/mythological records. Such ships are designed to survive the sea, rather than conquer it by moving their occupants from place to place.

Also, many ancient ships ran on pure slave-power. I could not view the photos -- were there signs that these ships were equipped with banks of oars on each side?

I was a deep-sea fisherman for 25yrs and the only sea going I would be doing on the ship in the link would be on the flat-calm sea.

It is far too narrow and shallow berthed to be ocean going. It is well suited to river or lake travel close to shore where it could quickly make landfall if circumstances dictated.

Compare it if you like with a Viking longship from AD1000 which was ocean going and you will see what I mean as there are several differences in design.

Maybe there's a conspiracy to hide ancient egyptian ships on a global basis

They found three ancient egyptian ships in the marshlands of Perth, Western Australia, however that seems to have been "silenced". Personally, I believe they should be in the Perth museum.

They also found a large piece of granite/marble (8' x 4' or smothing like that) with ancient hierlographs (sp) that is currently in the basement of the western australian museum...you'd think they'd at least have it displayed don't you?

So, who knows...maybe there is some truths there...

Cheers

JS

Originally posted by Howard the Dolphin
Graham Hancock writes in Fingerprints of the Gods of pits, some of which were sealed and investigated using fibre-optics, containing very large ships just south of the Great Pyramid.

There's seven of them. Two are near the smaller pyramids of the queens:
www.touregypt.net...

I am not sure exactly how these ships were dated and by whom, however, if dated correctly, these ships would have been present at the very beginning of Egypt's 3000-year history.

Carbon dating along with a number of other techniques (including dating from known boat styles depicted in the art of various periods.) And they're dated to the 4th Dynasty, which was sort of near the beginning of Egypt's history (a 7,000 year history, actually.)

I understand that grandeur was a common attribute of the Pharoah's displays of power, but I still have to ask the same question as Graham Hancock...Why were these grand ships constructed, and possibly more importantly, if not built by the Ancient Egyptians - them by whom?

Ancient Egyptians. If you know how to look at the wood and everything else, you'll see they weren't shaped by modern or ultramodern technology. And ships of this size aren't that uncommon.

They did build huge and elaborate boats to be CARRIED around during the festivals to the gods. Just as the people of Medieval Europe built huge Gothic-style cathedrals to honor their god, so the Egyptians built these to honor their god (the pharoah, who was risen to become a god in the sky after his death.)

Hancock is often guilty of Hysterical Archaeology.