Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh's Boat Reassembled at Grand Egyptian Museum

The boat of King Khufu at the Grand Egyptian Museum. (Wikimedia Commons/Holger Uwe Schmitt)

JAKARTA - A boat belonging to one of the Egyptian Pharaohs from thousands of years ago is being assembled in the Grand Egyptian Museum exhibition hall.

Staff began assembling the cedar wooden boat, one of two found to belong to King Khufu, at the end of last month watched by dozens of visitors.

The 42-meter-long (137 feet) ship's assembly, which is next to its twin that has been assembled and displayed, is expected to take about four years, according to Issa Zeidan, head of restoration at the Grand Egyptian Museum. The boat consists of 1,650 wooden pieces.

To note, King Khufu ruled ancient Egypt more than 4,500 years ago and built the Great Pyramid of Giza.

"You are witnessing today one of the most important restoration projects of the 21st century," said Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy, who attended the event, launching Kyodo News from AP (20/1).

The boat was one of two found in 1954, across the south side of the Great Pyramid. Excavation of its wooden parts began in 2014, according to the museum's website.

The exact purpose of the boats is still unclear, but experts believe that the boats were used to transport King Khufu's body during his funeral or were intended to be used on the journey to the afterlife with the Sun God Ra, according to the museum.

The $1 billion museum, also known as GEM, was touted as the world's largest museum when it was unveiled in lavish fashion last November.

The Grand Egyptian Museum houses nearly 50,000 artifacts, including a treasure trove of the famous tomb of King Tutankhamun, discovered in 1922.

The museum, located near the pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo, is expected to boost Egypt's tourism revenues and help revive its sluggish economy.