29 Nov. - 5 Dec. 2001
Issue No.562
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 29 Nov. - 5 Dec. 2001 Issue No.562 |
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The untold story of the Solar Boat
Egyptology is an exciting and rewarding field, and every discovery has a story. The discovery of the Solar Boat of Khufu in 1954 is one of the most interesting. At that time Mohamed Zaki Nour was chief inspector of antiquities at Giza, and Kamal El-Mallakh was a young architect of the Antiquities Department. The south side of the Great Pyramid was then obscured by debris to a height of seven metres, but the idea of removing it came only after a visit by King Saud of Saudi Arabia, who commented on the debris during a visit to Giza. El-Mallakh, being an ambitious and energetic young man, set workmen to the task. The chief of the "diggers" was Gares Yani, an Upper Egyptian who had been trained by some of the best foreign archaeologists. Also on the team were George Reisner from Harvard and the German archaeologist Hermann Junker.
In July 1954, Gares uncovered several huge limestone blocks lying flush with ground level. It was obvious to him that they covered a large pit. In great excitement he went to look for El-Mallakh, and found him in a downtown Cairo café with his close friends Anis Mansour and Maurice Guindi, the latter a correspondent for United Press International. As Mansour relates the scene, Yani was bursting with excitement and said: "Mr El-Mallakh, we have found the boat of Khufu!"
Whether from the advantage of hindsight, or an inspired guess at the time, El-Mallakh said he was convinced from the first that the south enclosure wall had been built closer to the Pyramid's base than the northern and western walls precisely to conceal one or more boat pits, and that Yani knew this. Be that as it may, the announcement caused great excitement and the group left the café in haste, jumped in a car, and headed for Giza. Mansour recalls that the car broke down on the Pyramids Road from overheating. "The curse of the Pharaohs!" he said.
When El-Mallakh arrived at the site, he found that the 41 limestone blocks seemed to be supported on a metre- wide shelf, and he broke through a massive slab to reveal a deep vault beneath his feet. His excitement grew, and his whole face lit up with a smile as he realised that what lay inside was a boat, and that, moreover, it appeared to be in a remarkable state of preservation. For the first time in 4,500 years the sun shone on the timbers of a great cedarwood vessel.
Guindi lost no time in publishing an article through his agency, UPI, and the New York Times ran story after story of the discovery of "the Solar Boat." Anis Mansour told me that he called distinguished Egyptologist Selim Hassan for his opinion about Solar Boats, and that, meanwhile, El-Mallakh embarked on a lecture tour of the United States to talk about the discovery. Ever charismatic, the now famous El-Mallakh shared his passion for Egypt with academic audiences, and also gave television and radio appearances. He was a great success.
When El-Mallakh returned to Egypt, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, the political writer, convinced President Nasser that the site was worth a visit. Together with an entourage of military officers, Nasser went. He listened as El-Mallakh explained the discovery and its significance. Mansour, who was there, heard Nasser say to El-Mallakh: "I came to encourage you!"
At this point, the evil nemesis Seth decided to churn things up. It would seem he almost never leaves us alone! El-Mallakh was criticised for publishing the discovery without the permission of the Antiquities Department, and 15 days' salary was cut from his monthly pay package. Then Nour, the Giza inspector, claimed that he should have had credit for the discovery. Meanwhile, Abdel-Moneim Abu Bakr, dean of the department of Egyptology at Cairo University, wrote an article outlining six points to support his theory that the vessel was not a Solar Boat at all, but a funerary barge that was built to transport the body of the deceased king from the capital, Memphis, to the Pyramid site.
I have reviewed all Abu Bakr's notes and do not find enough evidence to support his theory. In fact, during excavation of the boat, shavings of cedar and acacia wood were found in the pit, along with traces of mud plaster covering the limestone blocks over the pit. In my opinion, this provides evidence that the boat was built close to where it was buried. There is, moreover, no indication that it was ever used on the Nile. For one thing the deckhouse is not big enough for a comfortable journey and, for another, it did not have windows.
Needless to say, El-Mallakh continued to regard the vessel as a Solar Boat connected with the age-old myth of the sun-god eternally journeying across the heavens. Imagine his frustration when he left the Antiquities Department and the boat that had given him instant fame was taken out of his hands. Believe me, he fought like a tiger and he lost his life in the battle. When no longer involved in the project he nevertheless continued to visit Giza to watch Hag Ahmed Youssef, chief restorer of the department, supervise the excavation and reconstruction of the oldest boat in the world. Limestone blocks covering the pit were lifted with great cranes, and a resinous solution was applied to the fragments of ancient matting so as to lift them without damage. A platform had to be built over the working area to enable Youssef to conduct operations without putting pressure on the boat itself; and eventually the ancient timbers were lifted, treated, and restored. Built for a king, this vessel had been dismantled before being buried, and Youssef, almost single-handedly, spent 14 years putting this giant jig-saw puzzle together. El-Mallakh could only watch from the sidelines.
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