Khufu Ship (2500BC)


Material Propulsion Country Year Launched
Wood Human energy, Designed to be towed, 10 oars attached Egypt 2500BC
Length (feet) Displacement (tons)
144 94

Buried alongside the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Cheops in 2500 BC. Thought to be the oldest surviving watercraft. Made of Lebanese cedar. Antedates the Dahshur boat by 600 years. Discovered in 1954. Propelled by two dozen standing men with long, narrow-bladed oars, which might have also been used for pushing/poling off the bottom of the shallow parts of the Nile River.

Sources

Robert A. McCaughey

Compiler

Peter Richards

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