The solar boats were discovered adjacent to the southern face of the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty. Each was placed in a specially cut limestone-lined pit and sealed with massive blocks after interment. The boats are constructed using traditional Egyptian shipbuilding techniques, primarily employing imported Lebanese cedar and Egyptian acacia, joined by mortise-and-tenon methods and lashed with organic fiber cords rather than using metal fasteners.

The boats were found in a disassembled state, with their components arranged systematically within their respective pits. They are notable for their exceptional preservation and scale, each exceeding 40 meters in length. Although their precise original function is debated, prevailing interpretations regard them as non-functional ritual vessels intended for symbolic use in the afterlife, either for celestial travel or funerary transport.

The solar boats of Khufu are unparalleled in their archaeological, technological, and ritual significance. They offer critical insights into early dynastic mortuary beliefs, ancient woodworking and naval techniques, and the ideological link between kingship and solar theology in Old Kingdom Egypt.

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First Boat of Khufu
Discovered in May 1954 by Egyptian archaeologist Kamal el-Mallakh, the first solar boat was found in a pit located immediately south of the Great Pyramid. The pit had remained sealed and undisturbed since antiquity. Excavation revealed 1,224 wooden components laid out in a methodical and reversible manner. The vessel, approximately 43.4 meters long and 5.9 meters wide, was constructed primarily of Lebanese cedar with internal lashings made from Halfa grass.

The reconstruction process, led by master restorer Ahmed Youssef Moustafa, took several years and relied heavily on comparative studies of ancient Egyptian boat depictions and surviving vernacular boatbuilding traditions along the Nile. The reconstructed boat was first displayed in the Giza Solar Boat Museum in 1982 and later transferred in 2021 to the Grand Egyptian Museum, where it is now preserved in a purpose-built climate-controlled gallery.

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Second Boat of Khufu
The second boat pit, located parallel and adjacent to the first, was identified during the same 1954 excavation campaign but remained unopened for decades. Excavation began in 2011 as part of a joint Egyptian-Japanese project led by Waseda University and the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Unlike the first, the second pit had been exposed to moisture infiltration, resulting in more extensive deterioration of the wood.

Preliminary studies indicate that the second vessel is similar in size and construction to the first, though conservation challenges have delayed full reconstruction. The ongoing work involves detailed documentation, environmental stabilization, and the eventual assembly of the boat, which is also intended for exhibition at the Grand Egyptian Museum.