• 3 weeks ago
This is about the Abydos boats that are the remnants of a group of ancient royal Egyptian ceremonial boats found at an archaeological site in Abydos, Egypt. Discovered in 1991, excavation of the Abydos boats began in 2000 at which time fourteen boats were identified.

Egyptian rulers were buried with boats, among other objects of value, to assist them in the afterlife, shuttling the dead to the Egyptian underworld Duat and providing a vessel for navigating the rivers that crisscross the subterranean realm of the dead.

Let's talk about this discovery and add other lesser-known discoveries related to Ancient Egypt.

E.g.

- Meteorite Jewelry
- Electromagnetic Features of Great Pyramid of Giza
- Pyramid's Mathematical Accuracy
- Lost golden city

etc #brightside

Animation is created by Bright Side.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/

Listen to Bright Side on:
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/idhttps-podcasts-apple-com-podcast-bright-side/id1554898078
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Social Media:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brightside/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official/
Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en
Snapchat - https://www.snapchat.com/p/c6a1e38a-bff1-4a40-9731-2c8234ccb19f/1866144599336960

Stock materials (photos, footages and other):
https://www.depositphotos.com
https://www.shutterstock.com
https://www.eastnews.ru
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Category

😹
Fun
Transcript
00:00What is a boat doing in the middle of a desert? You 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.
00:16A wooden structure emerged from the sand. It 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, and 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, the 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.
01:04It 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 boats' 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.
01:47Today, the river flows almost 7 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 14 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 30 rowers.
02:17These vessels could really float.
02:20They weren't models, but 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.
02:29Previously, archaeologists found only small-scale models.
02:32In King Tut's tomb alone, there were 35 boat models.
02:36For a long time, these figurines were the only clues as to how ancient Egyptian vessels looked like.
02:41The boats' 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.
02:52The alternative was reed that was tied together to form a raft.
02:56The boats at Abydos had planks tied together.
02:59This was a major breakthrough in shipbuilding.
03:02During their lifetime, the boats must have seemed impressive.
03:05Timber was a valuable commodity at the time.
03:08There was no wood in the desert.
03:10Cedar had to be imported from Lebanon.
03:11The only person who could afford such luxury was the pharaoh.
03:15Studying the area around the ancient fleet provided more answers.
03:19Scientists discovered a mud-brick structure where Egyptians worshipped the pharaoh.
03:24Its approximate date of construction matches that of the wooden boats.
03:28The same bricks out of which this building was made were used to encase the fleet.
03:32At the time of their construction, the rooms they were stored in had a ceiling.
03:37That's the section that archaeologists stumbled upon in the early 20th century.
03:41Just 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.
03:56In 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 500 years later.
04:05Today, their surface looks jagged.
04:08But 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.
04:23Archaeologists 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 5th dynasty rested, King Senwosret 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.
05:02In 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 night time, 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.
05:38It is some four centuries younger than the fleet at Abydos.
05:41But 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.
05:57They 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.
06:07Historians hope it will give them a unique insight into the everyday life of ancient Egyptians.
06:12The 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.
06:25Archaeologists first found sections of mud brick walls that spread out in all directions.
06:30They discovered complete rooms with tools of everyday life inside.
06:34The 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.
06:49In 1911, scientists found a set of iron beads near a village in Lower Egypt, El Gertza.
06:55These 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.
07:43This 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.
08:13If you found this video interesting, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
08:17Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

Recommended