Explore a Pharaoh's Boat
Wood
Fully 95 percent original, the wood of Khufu's boat is conifer, probably cedar of Lebanon. Having few large trees of their own besides Nile acacia and tamarisk, the ancient Egyptians had imported cedar from the eastern Mediterranean region since before Khufu's time. The pharaoh's workers axed and sawed raw logs then trimmed them with adzes, much as traditional Egyptian boatbuilders do today. This detail of the ship's deckhouse displays the fine workmanship the ancients achieved with their copper and flint tools.