31 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Khufu Boat moved to its New Museum by Smart Vehicle

A 4,600-year-old intact wooden boat bearing the name of an Egyptian pharaoh, Khufu, was transported to a new museum about 7 kilometers away from Cairo’s Great Pyramid.

The boat was housed in a museum on the Giza Plateau, on the southern side of the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

The boat, 42 meters long and weighing 20 tons, was carried from the Great Pyramid to the Grand Egyptian Museum in an “aluminum cage-raised on a clever remote-control truck,” according to the antiquities ministry.

For the boat’s transit, streets and bridges overlooking the GEM, as well as archaeological and engineering equipment, were prepared.

To move the boat without disassembling it, a smart remote-controlled cart was specifically brought in from Belgium. The 8km journey from the boat’s position to the GEM took around 10 hours.

“The boat was exhibited inside a museum bearing its name at Giza Plateau, which was not equipped with the latest technological equipment to house and display this magnificent artifact,” the ministry statement read.

Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu’s boat makes a 48-hour journey to the new museum. Photo: Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry

“The aim of the transportation project is to protect and preserve the biggest and oldest organic artifact made of wood in the history of humanity for the future generations.”

The museum that housed the boat lacked the necessary resources to maintain the wooden relic, and the organic structure began to rot. The boat’s transfer to a new location was imperative.

The boat was discovered in 1954 at the southern corner of the Great Pyramid, which was built as a tomb for Khufu and is the only surviving wonder of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

GEM chief supervisor Atef Moftah described the boat transfer as “one of the most important, complicated, and unique archaeological engineering undertakings,” emphasizing that the task force left nothing to chance.

“It is the result of effort, study, planning, preparation, and serious work that spanned nearly a year,” he added, noting that the process was undertaken with great accuracy.

The low-key occasion contrasted sharply with Egypt’s spectacular ceremony in April to transfer 22 mummies from the 120-year-old Egyptian Museum in Cairo’s prominent Tahrir Square to the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, a historic Islamic city.

The parade on Saturday, however, was nonetheless impressive, with the enormous black truck painted with a depiction of the ancient boat and lighted with neon hues as it traveled through an old region containing many of Egypt’s pharaonic artifacts.

Cover Photo: Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry

Related Articles

A shipboard 14th-century cannon found off the Swedish coast may be the oldest in Europe

14 September 2023

14 September 2023

An international research team led by maritime archaeologist Staffan von Arbin of the University of Gothenburg has confirmed that a...

New Insights From Researchers About The World’s Longest Aqueduct

11 May 2021

11 May 2021

The Roman Empire’s aqueducts are magnificent specimens of the art of architecture. Although centuries have passed since these aqueducts were...

Archaeologists Reveal First Settlement of Cimmerians in Anatolia

23 June 2023

23 June 2023

Continuing excavations in Türkiye’s central Kırıkkale province have revealed new findings indicating that Büklükale village was the first settlement of...

A 2,000-year-old monumental Roman villa Found Under a Seaside May Be Pliny the Elder’s house

23 January 2024

23 January 2024

Researchers have discovered the remnants of a massive Roman villa thought to have ties to Pliny the Elder while working...

The first Bull Geoglyph discovered in central Asia

29 September 2021

29 September 2021

Archaeologists from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of History of Material Culture (IIMK RAS) and LLC Krasnoyarsk Geoarchaeology discovered...

The latest excavations in the ancient city of Dülük will shed light on the history of different religions

11 October 2021

11 October 2021

It is thought that the ancient city of Dülük, one of the 25 oldest settlements in the world, will shed...

Export barred on roundel manuscript gifted to Queen Elizabeth I by Archbishop

12 September 2022

12 September 2022

A rare presentation manuscript that Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Parker gave to Queen Elizabeth I in 1573 has been sold...

Oldest known arrowheads uncovered in the Americas

24 December 2022

24 December 2022

Archaeologists from Oregon State University have discovered projectile points in Idaho that are thousands of years older than any that...

Ancient coins surface with Lake Iznik’s withdrawal in Türkiye

2 May 2023

2 May 2023

With the withdrawal of Lake Iznik in the northwest of Türkiye, the ancient coins found at the bottom of the...

Vampires Were Born Here: The Forgotten Serbian Village Behind the World’s Oldest Vampire Legend

18 July 2025

18 July 2025

Picture a quiet Balkan village at dusk: the sun dips behind dense forests, mist curls around forgotten gravestones, and the...

Ancient skeletons buried with gold jewelry and expensive leather shoes found in newly discovered Roman necropolis in Italy

5 January 2024

5 January 2024

Archaeologists involved in a two-year-long excavation project at the site of a planned solar energy plant ancient city of Tarquinia,...

Archaeologists Uncover Rare Trojan War-Era Armor from 1200 BCE in Czechia

22 July 2025

22 July 2025

A remarkable archaeological discovery in South Moravia has brought new insights into Bronze Age Europe and its warrior elites. The...

Unveiling a Roman Settlement Beyond the Empire: New Discoveries in Delbrück-Bentfeld, Germany

6 April 2025

6 April 2025

Recent archaeological excavations in Delbrück-Bentfeld, located in northwestern Germany, have revealed significant evidence of a Roman settlement that existed beyond...

Thracian Horseman Votive Tablet Discovered in Bulgaria

28 July 2023

28 July 2023

A stone votive relief depicting a Thracian horseman was found during excavations at the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica, located...

Important archaeological find in the seas of Sicily: Archaic stone anchors found off Syracuse

24 November 2023

24 November 2023

During a joint operation by the Maritime Superintendency of the Sicilian Region and the Diving Unit of the Guardia di...