CAIRO, May 22 (RIA Novosti) - Spain and Egypt will start a project later this year to investigate the 19th century sinking of a ship that some believe contained the mummy of a Fourth Dynasty pharaoh, news agency MENA said.

MENA cited Egyptian Ambassador to Spain Yasser Murad as saying the countries would first hold consultations and compare historical records, and attempt to establish the location of the shipwreck.

Khafre, who ruled Egypt more than 2,500 years ago, is known for building the second largest of the three great pyramids at Giza, and may have overseen the creation of the nearby Sphinx.

A ship carrying ancient artifacts from Egypt to Britain that sank off the Spanish coast in the first half of the 19th century is believed by some Egyptologists to have contained Khafre's mummy.