King Khufu's Boat, the oldest and largest wooden boat found in Egypt, has been painstakingly moved from its longstanding home next to the Giza pyramids to a nearby giant museum, officials said last Saturday.

The 4,600-year-old vessel, also known as the Solar Boat, was shifted to the nearby Grand Egyptian Museum, which is due to open later this year.

"The aim of the transportation project is to protect and preserve the biggest and oldest organic artefact made of wood in the history of humanity for the future generations," the tourism and antiquities ministry said in a statement.

It took 48 hours to transport the cedar-wood boat, which is 42m long and weighs 20 tonnes, to its new home.

The boat was transported in a metal cage on a remote-controlled vehicle, said project supervisor general Atef Moftah.

The vessel, found in 1954 at the Great Pyramid, has been exhibited for decades at a museum bearing its name on the Giza Plateau in Greater Cairo.

Egypt says the Grand Egyptian Museum, which has been under construction intermittently for 17 years, will contain more than 100,000 artefacts when it opens.