The lost fleet of Pharaoh

The equivalent of an old hangar in a real boat, buried not far from his pharaoh, was found in the Egyptian city of Abydos, an important religious site in the west of the Nile.

The underground room, which dates back to 1840 BC, was to house the powerful wooden boat Sesostri (Senwosret) III, ruler of prominent Middle Kingdom, buried not far away in a tomb of the

same age. The walls of the room show the incredibly well-preserved drawings of 120 ships with different characteristics, a "virtual fleet" engraved in the mud walls and brick, which accompanied the boat here preserved.

The University of Pennsylvania discovered in collaboration with the Ministry of Egyptian antiquities and funded by the National Geographic Society, it is described in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology.

NEW LIGHT. The underground chamber, which once stretched for 21 meters long and 4 meters wide, had already been noticed in 1901, but during the excavation the roof had collapsed, decreeing the abandonment of the project. Archaeologists have spent the last two years to excavate the site, where they also rivenuto a hundred jars for storing liquids.

BOAT GONE. When they reached the inside of the room, they were surprised not to find a tomb: the place had been built to house a wooden boat whose hull shape is still visible on the floor. The ship there are only a few wooden fragments eaten by insects, but it is suspected to have been stolen already in ancient times for its fine wood, probably cedar. From 120 engravings of ships that decorate the walls, some of which 1.5 meters high, details emerge as trees, rudders, sails, even rowers.

USANZA NOTE. It is unclear whether the fleet represented really existed Egyptian ships and belonged to Pharaoh, and even those who have engraved: to bury the boat not far from the king was still a tradition and ancient course - another of Abydos excavation are You were found 14, in support of a royal tomb of the dynasty.



PHARAOH. Sesostris III reigned from 1878 to 1839 BC, marking a period of great prosperity that extended the Egyptian domain to Nubia, to the south. Unlike previous pharaohs, to the grave in a pyramid preferred to an underground tomb and hid, about 65 meters from the boat room.

A serene acceptance of death and old age also evident in depictions of the ruler, one of the few to agree to be carved and designed with the unmistakable signs of old age, rather than still in their prime.