A selection of 30 wooden beams of King Khufu's second solar boat arrived at the Grand Egyptian Museum . The new collection will be stored in the museum's galleries for reconstruction and eventual display.
Two solar boats were first discovered in 1954 by Egyptian archeologists Kamal Al Mallakh and Zaki Nour during a regular cleanup of the southern side of Khufu's Great Pyramid. Mallakh removed the timbers, oars and beams of the first solar boat but left the second one where it was found. In 2009, however, a Japanese archaeological team from Waseda University headed by Sakuji Yoshimura offered its assistance in removing the second boat from the pit, restoring and reassembling it for public viewing.
Antiquities Minister Mamdouh Al Damaty told Ahram Online that the Grand Egyptian Museum now had 203 wooden beams from King Khufu's second boat.
The Grand Egyptian Museum's restoration director, Eissa Zidan, said that the Japanese and Egyptian restorers had detached 468 wooden pieces and with the use of the latest scientific methods, they have already restored 342 pieces, according to Ahram Online.
Yoshimura said that the restoration work that has been done was not yet complete. However, the complete restoration of the second solar boat will be carried out once it is fully reassembled. He also said that the project would take years to be accurately done, estimating that it would continue until sometime in 2018.