Feb. 27, 2006
Courtesy Boston University and World Science staff
Archaeologists say they have uncovered the oldest remains of sea-faring ships in the world. The finds include cargo boxes containing goods from the “lost” land of Punt, a fabled southern Red Sea trading center, the researchers add.
A 24th-century B.C. relief of a ship under sail (Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art)
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The discoveries turned up during excavations in two man-made caves that the team said it had previously found on Egypt’s Red Sea coast.
“One of the rooms contained coils of ship rope, all neatly tied and knotted—just as the sailors left them almost 4,000 years ago,” said Boston University’s Kathryn Bard, co-director of the excavations. “The view into this cave is truly astonishing.”
Well-preserved cedar planks and decking timber showed the ancient Egyptians were excellent ship builders, and support an idea that they reached Punt by sea, the researchers said. They added that the findings may help them determine the location of Punt, a longtime puzzle.
Reported findings also included five parallel rock-cut rooms in the caves, for storing ship equipment; a large stone anchor; shards of Egyptian storage jars; and a limestone tablet, or stela, of Pharaoh Amenemhat III, inscribed with his five royal names.
The researchers also said they found two intact cedar steering oars last spring, when they unearthed the caves. They speculated that the oars were used on 70-foot-long ships from a 15th-century B.C. expedition launched by Egypt’s Queen Hatshepsut to Punt.
Well-preserved and intact, the oars are the first complete parts from a sea-faring ship found in Egypt, they added. Near the oars were pieces of pottery and a stela with hieroglyphics detailing trade expeditions to Punt. * * *