Editing Ancient Egypt (section)

===Maritime technology===
Early Egyptians knew how to assemble planks of wood into a [[hull (watercraft)|ship hull]] and had mastered advanced forms of [[shipbuilding]] as early as 3000{{nbsp}}BC. The [[Archaeological Institute of America]] reports that the oldest [[Plank (wood)|planked]] [[ship]]s known are the [[Abydos boats]].{{sfnp|Ward|2001}} A group of 14 discovered ships in [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] were constructed of wooden planks "sewn" together. Discovered by Egyptologist David O'Connor of [[New York University]],{{sfnp|Schuster|2000}} woven [[strap]]s were found to have been used to lash the planks together,{{sfnp|Ward|2001}} and [[Cyperus papyrus|reeds]] or [[Poaceae|grass]] stuffed between the planks helped to seal the seams.{{sfnp|Ward|2001}} Because the ships are all buried together and near a mortuary belonging to [[Khasekhemwy|Pharaoh Khasekhemwy]], originally they were all thought to have belonged to him, but one of the 14 ships dates to 3000{{nbsp}}BC, and the associated pottery jars buried with the vessels also suggest earlier dating. The ship dating to 3000{{nbsp}}BC was {{convert|75|ft|m}} long and is now thought to perhaps have belonged to an earlier pharaoh, perhaps one as early as [[Hor-Aha]].{{sfnp|Schuster|2000}}

Early Egyptians also knew how to assemble planks of wood with [[treenail]]s to fasten them together, using [[Pitch (resin)|pitch]] for [[caulking]] the seams. The "[[Khufu ship]]", a {{convert|43.6|m|ft|adj=on}} vessel sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the [[Great Pyramid of Giza]] in the [[Fourth dynasty of Egypt|Fourth Dynasty]] around 2500{{nbsp}}BC, is a full-size surviving example that may have filled the symbolic function of a [[solar barque]]. Early Egyptians also knew how to fasten the planks of this ship together with [[mortise and tenon]] joints.{{sfnp|Ward|2001}}

[[File:Ancient Egyptian Seafaring Ship.jpg|thumb|left|Seagoing ship of an expedition to Punt, from a relief of [[Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut|Hatshepsut's Mortuary temple]], Deir el-Bahari]]Large seagoing ships are known to have been heavily used by the Egyptians in their trade with the city states of the eastern Mediterranean, especially [[Byblos]] (on the coast of modern-day Lebanon), and in several expeditions down the Red Sea to the [[Land of Punt]]. In fact one of the earliest Egyptian words for a seagoing ship is a "Byblos Ship", which originally defined a class of Egyptian seagoing ships used on the Byblos run; however, by the end of the Old Kingdom, the term had come to include large seagoing ships, whatever their destination.{{sfnp|Wachsmann|2009|p=19}}

In 1977, an ancient north–south canal was discovered extending from [[Lake Timsah]] to the Ballah Lakes.{{sfnp|Shea|1977|pp=31–38}} It was dated to the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]] by extrapolating dates of ancient sites constructed along its course.{{sfnp|Shea|1977|pp=31–38}}{{efn|See [[Suez Canal]].}}

In 2011, archaeologists from Italy, the United States, and Egypt, excavating a dried-up lagoon known as [[Mersa Gawasis]], unearthed traces of an ancient harbor that once launched early voyages, such as [[Hatshepsut]]'s Punt, expedition onto the open ocean. Some of the site's most evocative evidence for the ancient Egyptians' seafaring prowess include large ship timbers and hundreds of feet of ropes, made from papyrus, coiled in huge bundles.{{sfnp|Curry|2011}} In 2013, a team of Franco-Egyptian archaeologists discovered what is believed to be the world's oldest port, dating back about 4500 years, from the time of King Khufu, on the Red Sea coast, near Wadi el-Jarf (about 110 miles south of [[Suez]]).{{sfnmp|1a1=Boyle|1y=2013|2a1=Lorenzi|2y=2013}}