Archaeologists working near the Giza plateau have unearthed a pristine 18th-Dynasty tomb belonging to a Royal Shipwright, featuring a remarkably detailed wooden scale model of a seagoing galley. The discovery provides unprecedented insight into the maritime engineering of the New Kingdom, particularly the structural innovations used for long-distance trade during the reign of Hatshepsut.
The tomb also contained a complete set of woodworking tools, including copper-alloy chisels, adzes, and leveling devices. These artifacts suggest that the occupant was a high-ranking official responsible for overseeing the construction of vessels intended for the famous expeditions to the Land of Punt. The polychrome reliefs on the tomb walls depict the step-by-step assembly of a cedar-wood ship, offering a literal blueprint of ancient Egyptian naval architecture.