Building Pharaoh's Ship (2010)

Building Pharaoh’s Ship - a documentary film about experimental archaeology - was shown on US television (PBS) in 2010. It is an episode of the long-running program NOVA, which focuses on the history of science and technology (season 37, episode 10). Here is some basic information about it:

** Directed by Stephane Begoin

** Produced by Valerie Abita and Patrick Villeneuve

** Written by Julia Cort

** Narrated by Craig Sechler

** Run time: 53 minutes

Several experts were involved in this program. Here are their names:

** Kathryn Bard – Boston University

** David Vann – author and sailing expert

** Tom Vosmer – maritime archaeologist

** Cheryl Ward – Coastal Carolina University

** The Lahma family – an Egyptian family of shipbuilders

The experts meet in Egypt. The project is to build a modern replica of an ancient ship that can actually sail the open sea. In this film we see the experts as they try to complete the project. There are several stages:

# 1. Study ancient monuments with reliefs of ships – and study archaeological remains of ancient ships – in order to collect as much evidence as possible

# 2. Build a ship

# 3. Construct a mast and a sail

# 4. Put everything together

# 5. Test the ship in the water

Not everything goes according to plan. Sometimes there is a setback, but when this happens, they sit back, think for a moment, and then they try something else.

At first, the ship was built without caulking. But when the ship was put into the water, they could see that this could not work: the ship was going to sink. To solve this problem they decided that caulking (with linen and bee’s wax) was necessary. Once this process was completed, the ship was watertight. The problem had been solved.

Without revealing too much I can tell you that the experts and the family of shipbuilders manage to build a modern replica of an ancient ship that can sail the open sea. When they test the top speed of the ship, the result is seven knots or thirteen km per hour, which is quite good.

Building Pharaoh’s Ship is an interesting program. We follow the experts as they are working on solutions to the practical problems. We also follow them as the ship is tested on the waters of the Red Sea.

What do reviewers say about this film? On IMDb it has a rating of 70 per cent, which corresponds to three and a half stars on Amazon. If you ask me, this average rating is too low. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

If you are interested in the history of the ancient world - in particular the history of science and technology – this program is definitely something for you.

PS. Building Pharaoh’s Chariot is a somewhat similar program that was released by NOVA in 2013.

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