Egypt says village found in Nile Delta predated pharaohs

Egypt says archeologists have unearthed one of the oldest villages ever found in the Nile Delta, with remains dating back to before the pharaohs.

The Antiquities Ministry said Sunday the Neolithic site was discovered in Tell el-Samara, about 140 kilometres (87 miles) north of Cairo. Chief archaeologist Frederic Gio says his team found silos containing animal bones and food, indicating human habitation as early as 5,000 B.C.

That would be some 2,500 years before the Giza pyramids were built.

In recent years, Egypt has touted discoveries in the hopes of reviving tourism after the unrest that followed its 2011 popular uprising.

Egypt says village found in Nile Delta predated pharaohs

5,000-year-old wooden boat used by the pharaohs is discovered by French archaeologists

French archaeologists have discovered a 5,000-year-old wooden boat in an expedition in Egypt, it has emerged.

The significant discovery was made in Abu Rawash, west of Cairo, the antiquities ministry in Egypt said.

Mohammed Ibrahim, the antiquities minister, said: 'It goes back to the era of Pharaoh Den, one of the First Dynasty kings'

The six-metre long and 1.5-metre wide pharaonic solar boat 'is in good condition,' he added. 

Its planks are now undergoing renovation before it is put on display in a museum.

The pharaohs believed that solar boats, buried close to them at death, would transport them in the afterlife.

According to Middle East Online, the boat's wooden sheets were transported to the planned  National Museum of Egyptiamn Civilisation were they will be restored. 

One the museum is finished, it is expected they will be put on display at some point next year.

The group of French archeologists were working for the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology (IFAO).

The group first started its excavation work in Abu Rawash in the early 1900s.

In 1954 an Egyptian archaeologist discovered what may be the Pharaoh Khufu's 43-metre solar ship, made of cedar, in a Giza pyramid. 

The 4,500 year-old intact vessel is on display near the pyramid.

It is one of the oldest, largest, and best-preserved vessels from antiquity and has been identified as the world's oldest intact ship.

It is known as a 'solar barge', a ritual vessel to carry the resurrected king with the sun god Ra across the heavens.

5,000-year-old wooden boat used by the pharaohs is discovered by French archaeologists