Ancient Egyptians were good seafarers

The excavation of an ancient Egyptian shipyard revealed traces of the world's oldest ships. The discovery shows that the ancient Egyptians were very advanced in boat building technology.

Wooden pieces of the boat are found in the area. 4,000-year-old logs are found alongside boxes, anchors, rope rolls and many other marine materials located in areas where archaeologists call a military management area. old.

The area consists of six artificial caves, located at Wadi Gawasis, a pristine steep slope on the Red Sea near the port city of Safaga today. According to archaeologist Cheryl Ward at the University of Florida, the life expectancy of these findings is remarkable.

"The older rafts, like the dugout boats, have been found all over the world, but these are the most ancient sea boats. More significant is that the second ancient ship in Egypt is still younger than 700. years compared to this one, "Ward said.

However, equally important is the discovery of the possibility of ancient Egyptian seafaring.

According to Ward, it is thought that while the ancient Egyptians often traveled along the Nile in small boats, they did not have the technical skills to carry out long sea voyages. Recent evidence at Wadi Gawasis shows that they are truly experienced seafarers like later civilizations in Greece and Rome.

In particular, the writing on the boxes proves that many people come from a legendary Punt city, where the exact location is still unknown.

" The Egyptians obviously went to sea regularly during this period, even though it was a hard work. It took several thousand people to transport goods across the desert ," Ward said.

Before going to sea, the Egyptians needed to transport materials, tools and goods from big cities along the Nile to the coast, where the new boat was assembled. Caves, an average of 18-21 m, can be created for this purpose.

" You can compare these caves with hangars. If the planes are all gone, what will stay? The parts, tools, objects . are exactly like here. " Ward said.

The remaining pieces of wood in Wadi Gawasis also proved that when the boat returned after a few months at sea, they were dismantled in the cave and the parts were checked again. The pieces are too old to be removed, the good ones will be used for the next time.

" The Egyptians even set sail to Lebanon to look for cedar trees to build boats. The resin is said to be broken but it doesn't seem to be very good ," Ward said.

MT