King Khufu's harbour disocovered in Egypt

A French-Egyptian archaeological mission from the French Institute for Archaeological Studies may have discovered the oldest harbour ever found in Egypt, situated on the Red Sea shore at Wadi Al-Jarf area along the Suez-Zaafarana road

The harbour goes back to the reign of the fourth dynasty King Khufu, the owner of the Great Pyramid in Giza Plateau. The harbour is considered one of the most important commercial harbours where trading trips to export copper and other minerals from Sinai were launched.

A collection of vessel anchors carved in stone was also discovered as well as the harbours different docks.

Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim announced that a collection of 40 papyri, showing details of daily life of ancient Egyptians during the 27th year of King Khufu’s reign, was also unearthed during excavation work carried out.

“These are the oldest papyri ever found in Egypt,” asserted Ibrahim.

He also stated that these papyri are very important because it reveals more information on the ancient Egyptians’ daily life, as it includes monthly reports of the number of labours working in the harbour and details of their lives.

The papyri have been transferred to the Suez Museum for study and documentation.

French Egyptologist Pierre Tallet, director of the archaeological mission, pointed out that it is very important to carefully study the information in these papyri because it will introduce plenty of information about this period. The papyri will also show the nature of life that the ancient Egyptians once lived, their rights and duties, which we know little about, Tallet added.

The mission has also succeeded in discovering remains of workers’ houses, which reveals the importance of this harbour and area commercially whether among the different cities of Egypt or abroad, said Adel Hussein, head of the Ancient Egyptian Sector at the Ministry of State for Antiquities.

A collection of 30 caves were also discovered along with the stone blocks used to block their entrances, inscribed with King Khufu’s cartouche written in red ink. Ship ropes and stone tools used to cut ropes and wooden remains were discovered as well.

Sunken Treasure Found in Malacca

An archaeologist diver claims to have discovered the remains of a sunken Dutch merchant vessel containing RM500 million (S$199 million)worth of cultural relics, about three nautical miles off Pulau Besar here.

The Kuala Lumpur-based archaeologist, who wanted to be known only as David so he could remain anonymous, believes the vessel could have escaped the roving eyes of underwater relic hunters as it was buried by undersea sand.

The wooden galleon is said to have sunk with the loads of treasures about 400 years ago. It may have a number of well-preserved relics like ceramics, old coins, beads, glass and gold ingots.

David believes the find is the first intact wreck related to the Dutch occupation of Malacca.

He and his team found the near complete hull structure about 1m under the seabed, and 27m beneath the ocean's surface off the Straits of Malacca in May.

"The discovery is so monumental because much of the hull has remained intact and the vessel appears to be well preserved due to the sand," he said.

David said there were also six other shipwrecks at the same site.

Malacca Museum Authority's general manager Datuk Khamis Abas said the wooden vessel had been detected during an underwater survey conducted by several maritime agencies a few years ago.

"Due to the strong undercurrent, the expedition team could only record the sighting without doing any research," he said.

Khamis said the team had also alerted the Heritage Department on the finding of the Dutch vessel.

He advised the archaeologist's team to contact the Heritage Department to get permission to conduct more research.

The Star previously reported that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam was aware of alleged theft of these submerged treasures.

He said irresponsible individuals had gone underwater to take away the national treasures that were worth billions.

Source Asiaone

Maritime Archaeology: The Monrovia At Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Monrovia: Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary from UNC-CSI on Vimeo.

For those of you maritime archaeology enthusiasts, you have to check out this video featuring the ocean freighter Monrovia, which sunk June 25, 1959, after being rammed by the freighter Royalton during a heavy fog just outside Thunder Bay.

The Monrovia sits upright in 140 feet of water and is mostly intact with the exception of the collision damage.

For more information, please visit thunderbay.noaa.gov