古代ファラオの船、新博物館へ移送 展示の目玉に　エジプト

【カイロＡＦＰ＝時事】エジプト観光・考古省は７日、約４６００年前のクフ王の大型木造船「太陽の船」を間もなく公開される大エジプト博物館に移送したと発表した。（写真はエジプト・ギザの古墳群から、新たにオープンする大エジプト博物館へ移送されるクフ王の大型木造船「太陽の船」）
　古代エジプト第４王朝に君臨したクフ王のピラミッド近くの穴からは複数の船が発掘されており、死後の世界で王を運ぶためのものだと考えられている。
　同省は「１９５４年に大ピラミッドの南端で発見されたクフ王の１隻目の船は、スマートカーでギザの通りを通過し、大エジプト博物館への長い旅を終えた」と発表した。
　長さ４２メートル、重さ２０トンの船は「人類史上最古で最大の木の建造物」だと同省は述べている。
　国営の中東通信（ＭＥＮＡ）によると、太陽の船はベルギーから輸入した遠隔操作ができる特殊車両によって、６日深夜から１０時間かけて移送された。
　有名なピラミッドが集まるギザ台地に、最も貴重な古代遺物を収蔵した大エジプト博物館がオープンすることについて、エジプト政府は考古学上、重要な出来事だとうたっている。７．５キロの距離を無傷で移送された太陽の船は、新たな博物館で主役級の展示物の一つとなる予定。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/08/10-10:59）

Egypt has transported the Pharaoh Khufu's intact solar boat dating back some 4,600 years to the country's soon to be unveiled grand museum, the antiquities ministry said on Saturday.
Solar boats were buried in pits next to royal burial chambers in the belief that they would transport the departed into the afterlife.
Cairo's Great Pyramid -- also known as the Pyramid of Cheops -- is the largest of the three Giza pyramids and houses Khufu's tomb.
After... crossing the streets of Giza on a smart vehicle, the first boat of King Khufu discovered in 1954 at the southern corner of the Great Pyramid has terminated its long journey to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), a ministry statement said.
The boat was commissioned by Khufu, a Fourth Dynasty monarch who ruled during the Old Kingdom.
The ministry boasted that the 42-metre (138-foot) long and 20-tonne solar boat is the biggest and oldest organic artifact made of wood, in the history of humanity.
Its journey on a special remote-controlled vehicle imported from Belgium began late on Friday and took 10 hours, the official MENA news agency reported.
Egypt has touted the anticipated opening of the GEM at the Giza plateau, home to the famed pyramids, as an important archaeological landmark housing its most precious antiquities.
The vessel was transported intact on its 7.5-kilometre journey, and is set to be one of the star exhibits when the new museum opens.
It had been on display near the Great Pyramid.
Egypt has pinned its hopes on a series of recent archaeological discoveries to revive its vital but ailing tourism sector which has suffered multiple shocks, from the 2011 uprising to today's coronavirus pandemic.
In April, authorities moved the mummified remains of 22 pharaohs from Cairo's iconic Egyptian Museum in a grandiose ceremony to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in the city.
In a carefully choreographed televised event, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi greeted the coffins that included the mummies of Ramses II and Queen Hatshepsut.