Restoration of Khufu’s boat

The third phase of the restoration of Khufu’s second solar boat has recently begun, reports Samia Fakhry

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) invited a number of Egyptian and foreign journalists to a press conference last week in order to announce the beginning of the third phase of the restoration project on Khufu’s second solar boat and to raise awareness of the Japanese contribution to the preservation of Egypt’s archaeological heritage.

A tour of the labs of the planned Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) was also on the agenda, when those present were able to see the restoration work done on some of treasures found in the tomb of Tutankhamun that will be in the GEM collection.

In addition to the JICA’s work at the GEM and on Khufu’s solar boat, the Japanese government is also to establish a fourth phase of the Cairo underground, this time linking the capital to the Pyramids area and the GEM.

The story of Khufu’s solar boats started in 1954 when Egyptian archaeologist Kamal Al-Mallakh stumbled upon the two boat pits during routine cleaning on the southern side of the Great Pyramid of Khufu on the Giza Plateau. Working with conservator Ahmed Youssef, Al-Mallakh organised the removal and reconstruction of one of the boats.

The second remained buried in the sand until 1987 when the US National Geographic Society in association with the Egyptian authorities probed the pit through a hole bored into the limestone covering it, inserting a micro camera and measuring equipment. The temperature, humidity and preservation condition of the boat inside were all examined.