And while precise dating, through carbon 14 testing (only accurate to about 200 years), remains to
be determined, early excavation of a ten-foot portion of one of the wooden hulls has already yielded surprising results: the archaeologists now believe the boats were not models, as many mortuary-associated objects could be, but viable vessels which could accommodate as many as 30 rowers. According to boat expert Cheryl Ward, the mode of construction is unique among surviving ancient Egyptian boats. About 75 feet in length and seven to ten feet in width at the widest point, these boats are only about two feet deep, with narrowing prows and sterns. The portion of the boat hull excavated revealed thick wooden planks, lashed together by rope fed through mortises. The seams between the planks were filled with bundles of reeds, while additional reeds carpeted the floor of the boat. Internal framing-a universal aspect of later shipbuilding-is not in evidence, and some of the boats in their graves appear twisted or lopsided, symptomatic of vessels without an internal structure to support them out of the water. Moreover, residue of yellow pigment indicates that these boats were probably painted.
The Associate Director for the Abydos Boats project is Matthew Adams, Research Associate, Egyptian Section, University of Pennsylvania Museum, and the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. "Discovering such a fleet of wooden vessels this early in Egypt's history offers extraordinary insights into the wealth and power of Egypt 5000 years ago and the promise of new information as the boat excavations and conservation efforts continue," said Mr. Adams. "The wood alone tells us so much. Wood was a precious commodity in Egypt, and when we determine the type of wood we'll be able to pinpoint just where it came from-which opens a whole new avenue of understanding about trade, political relationships, and power."
Boats figured largely in ancient Egyptian life, where few people lived far from the life-giving Nile River. The Abydos boats appear to be the prototype of the pharaonic boats that appear, both real and in symbolic form, in funerary contexts much later in Egyptian history. Egyptians believed that the king,
or pharaoh, at his death joined the sun god Ra, sailing in his boat down the heavenly Nile. The most famous and elaborate of these boats-featuring carved prow and stern and a deck cabin-was found in
a boat grave at the Great Pyramid of Giza, attributed to the Pharaoh Khufu (ca. 2500 B.C.). No intact boats had been found of earlier construction-until now.
The preliminary conservation study on the first boat hull is helping to shape future seasons. The archaeologists plan to return to boat excavation work this winter in order to minimize the damage
from the sunlight and heat, which cause quick deterioration of the fragile wood. Although conser-
vators Deborah Schorsch and Lawrence Becker expected and found significant insect damage from wood-eating ants or termites, the wood was still sufficiently intact to be treated and removed, with fragments of rope and much reed material, for storage and study. In future seasons, boat expert
Cheryl Ward will be examining the wooden planks microscopically to glean evidence about the manufacture, transport, and use of the boats prior to their placement in the mud-brick "graves" of Abydos.
Archaeologists hope that material evidence found in and around the boats may eventually help with dating and better understanding the royal fleet-and Egypt in the first dynasty. More than 30 pointed-bottom pottery jars, about a foot tall and of a shape that typically was used to transport beer, were found near one of the boat graves. Excavators found seal impressions, too deteriorated to be legible, from the jars' stoppers; more impressions of this sort are anticipated, and may even yield the name of the king for whom the boats were interred. The team will also be looking for evidence or remains of any boat gear-oars, rudders, dismantled seats, intact prow and stern (the test boat's prow was too disintegrated to provide clear information), as well as evidence for the boats' decoration.
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Adapted from materials provided by New York University.
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MLA New York University (2000, November 2). After 5,000 Year Voyage, World's Oldest Built Boats Deliver -- Archeologists' First Look Confirms Existence Of Earliest Royal Boats At Abydos. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 24, 2008, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2000/11/001101065713.htm
