They Found Ships Older Than the Pyramids in the Desert

Bright Side

Did you know they found ships in the middle of the desert that are older than the pyramids?  Sounds crazy, right? These ancient ships were discovered in Egypt, buried near the Nile River, and they date back over 5,000 years!  Historians think they were used in special ceremonies or possibly even burials for important people. The fact that these ships have survived for so long is mind-blowing. If you're into history and cool discoveries, this is something you’ll definitely want to learn more about!

Transcript

00:00What is a boat doing in the middle of a desert?

00:02You would expect to find a seagoing vessel closer to shore.

00:05This is the question archaeologists have been asking for decades.

00:09In 1988, there was a storm near one of the most important archaeological sites in ancient Egypt.

00:15A wooden structure emerged from the sand.

00:18It was hollowed out by termites.

00:20Scientists were determined to solve its mystery.

00:23In 2000, they began excavating the site near Abydos, Ubaidos.

00:28An American team of experts soon discovered a boat that was 70 feet long.

00:32And it wasn't alone.

00:34In total, there were 14 boats neatly resting next to each other.

00:38It was impossible to completely dig out the boats because of their poor condition.

00:42Luckily, the wood was preserved enough to get a sample.

00:45Analyses revealed that the boats were around 5,000 years old.

00:49The oldest fleet in human history to this date.

00:53The time of their construction predates the pyramids at Giza by half a millennium.

00:57Each ship of the fleet rested in a vault that matched its dimensions.

01:01The room was roughly a third of the size of a tennis court.

01:05It had mud brick walls that featured more than 120 drawings of boats.

01:09Ancient Egyptians incised them on whitewashed walls that were excellently preserved.

01:14Scientists have known about these mysterious chambers for well over a century.

01:181901, 1902.

01:20A British archaeologist, Arthur Weigel, stumbled upon a strange structure west of the River Nile.

01:26His team caught a glimpse of the interior walls.

01:29Sadly, a section of the roof collapsed, so they had to call off further exploration.

01:35Researchers abandoned the site, but its location remained on the maps.

01:39The boat's position first led scientists to think that they rested on a bank of the mighty Nile.

01:45But there was a problem with this theory.

01:48Today, the river flows almost seven miles west of Abydos.

01:52Further studies of the surrounding terrain showed the Nile didn't change its course throughout history.

01:57Also, if the boats floated near a dock, they would be in unstable positions.

02:02The fourteen vessels at Abydos were perfectly parallel to each other.

02:06There was only one conclusion possible.

02:09Someone had deliberately placed them like that.

02:12They must have gone through a lot of effort.

02:14Each boat had enough room for up to thirty rowers.

02:17These vessels could really float.

02:19They weren't models.

02:21But scholars still don't know if they actually sailed any body of water in Ancient Egypt.

02:26This doesn't diminish the importance of the find.

02:28Previously, archaeologists found only small-scale models.

02:32In King Tut's tomb alone, there were thirty-five boat models.

02:36For a long time, these figurines were the only clues as to how ancient Egyptian vessels looked like.

02:41The boat's design confirms that they were the real deal.

02:44They are the earliest surviving examples of something called built boats.

02:48Ancient people constructed primitive vessels by hollowing out large tree trunks.

02:53The alternative was reed that was tied together to form a raft.

02:57The boats at Abydos had planks tied together.

03:00This was a major breakthrough in shipbuilding.

03:02During their lifetime, the boats must have seemed impressive.

03:06Timber was a valuable commodity at the time.

03:09There was no wood in the desert.

03:11Cedar had to be imported from Lebanon.

03:13The only person who could afford such luxury was the pharaoh.

03:16Studying the area around the ancient fleet provided more answers.

03:20Scientists discovered a mud-brick structure where Egyptians worshipped the pharaoh.

03:25Its approximate date of construction matches that of the wooden boats.

03:29The same bricks out of which this building was made were used to encase the fleet.

03:33At the time of their construction, the rooms they were stored in had a ceiling.

03:38That's the section that archaeologists stumbled upon in the early twentieth century.

03:42Just like mummies in coffins, these marvelous ships rested inside splendid vaults.

03:47The exterior of these rooms was also impressive.

03:50The outer walls originally had a plaster of white limestone.

03:54It reflected sunlight.

03:55In the desert sun, the structure housing the boats must have shone from miles away.

04:00Ancient Egyptian builders used the same technique to cover the pyramids five hundred years later.

04:05Today, their surface looks jagged, but it wasn't always like this.

04:10When they were constructed, the pyramids had a top layer of fine white limestone.

04:15Their surface was smooth and it gleamed in the sunlight.

04:18Instead of stairs, the outer layer of the pyramids was more of a sleek ramp.

04:22Archaeologists were left with one final question.

04:26Which pharaoh owned the fleet?

04:28The answer lay just a mile from the site.

04:30This is where the tomb of a pharaoh from the fifth dynasty rested, King Senwasrit III.

04:35Its time and style of construction matched the ones of the chambers with boats.

04:40The very end of his rule might explain how the boats ended up in the middle of the desert.

04:44The pharaoh probably passed away in northern Egypt.

04:47Then his body was transported down the Nile to Abydos in a marvelous procession of decorated boats.

04:56The vessels were later lowered to chambers near the final resting place of their owner.

05:01This had a symbolic meaning.

05:03In the ancient Egyptians' belief system, ships played a key role.

05:07Their supreme deity was Ra.

05:10He traveled through the sky during the day in the form of the sun.

05:13At nighttime, he sailed through the netherworld in a solar boat.

05:17The pharaoh identified himself with Ra.

05:19That's why he needed boats in the afterlife.

05:22That was the only way to regenerate himself.

05:24Just as the sun rises every day above the horizon.

05:27This belief existed for thousands of years.

05:30The more famous pharaoh Khufu also had a ship.

05:34Scientists found it 1954, next to his pyramid at Giza.

05:37It is some four centuries younger than the fleet at Abydos.

05:40But Khufu's ship was almost two times longer.

05:44The Great Pyramid of Giza and King Tut's tomb are some of the most famous archaeological finds in Egypt.

05:50But there are many more secrets hiding beneath the endless sands of the Sahara Desert.

05:55Recently, 2020, archaeologists found a lost city there.

05:58They have labeled it as the most important discovery since King Tut's tomb, 1922.

06:04The city of Aten is some 3,000 years old.

06:08Historians hope it will give them a unique insight into the everyday life of ancient Egyptians.

06:13The famous archaeologist and Egyptologist Zahi Hawass proclaimed the site a lost golden city.

06:19Aten sits some 300 miles south of Egypt's capital Cairo.

06:23It is close to the famous Valley of the Kings.

06:26Archaeologists first found sections of mud brick walls that spread out in all directions.

06:31They discovered complete rooms with tools of everyday life inside.

06:35The research team unearthed a bakery, a residential neighborhood, and an administrative district.

06:41They all date back to the time when the Egyptian civilization was the wealthiest in its long history.

06:47They were also the first to make objects from iron.

06:50In 1911, scientists found a set of iron beads near a village in Lower Egypt, El-Gerza.

06:56These are the earliest known iron artifacts.

06:58The discovery is literally out of this world.

07:01Ancient people made them by beading into shape a piece of a meteorite.

07:05The nine beads were once part of an ornate necklace.

07:08They are now blackened and corroded, which is perfectly normal for a piece of jewelry that is over 5,000 years old.

07:13They consist of an iron-nickel alloy.

07:16Researchers were impressed by the skill of ancient jewelers who processed the beads.

07:21Their craftsmanship is more impressive when you think that they didn't know the stellar origins of the material.

07:27The Great Pyramid of Giza also has a remarkable feature.

07:31An international research group investigated the electromagnetic response of the structure to radio waves.

07:38They found that the pyramid has the ability to concentrate electromagnetic energy inside it.

07:44This occurred inside its chambers as well as under the pyramid's base.

07:48It contains an underground, unfinished chamber.

07:51It seems that the electromagnetic response is connected with the properties of limestone,

07:56the Great Pyramid's main building material.

07:59The research results might have a practical application.

08:02The way solar cells and nanosensors function could be improved by this remarkable find.

08:07The Great Pyramid of Giza has a clear receipt.

08:10The Great Pyramid of Giza has one of the strengths,

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