Egypt

3,000-year-old temples discovered in Egypt

MSNBC (Hadeel Al-Shalchi)

Archaeologists exploring an old military road in the Sinai have unearthed four new temples amidst the 3,000-year-old remains of an ancient fortified city that could have been used to impress foreign delegations visiting Egypt, antiquities authorities announced Tuesday.

Among the discoveries was the largest mud brick temple found in the Sinai with an area of 77 by 87 yards and fortified with mud walls 10 feetthick, said Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The find was made in Qantara, 2 1/2 miles east of the Suez Canal. These temples mark the latest discovery by archaeologists digging up the remains of the city on the military road known as "Way of Horus." Horus is a falcon-headed god, who represented the greatest cosmic powers for ancient Egyptians.

Bloomberg

Archaeologists have found four ancient Egyptian temples on an old military path in Sinai that Egyptian armies had used in military expeditions to defend their eastern borders.

The temples, ordained with colorful drawings of ancient Egyptian deities such as Horus, date back to the 18th and 19th dynasties of the New Kingdom, which started with Pharaoh Thutmosis II (1516-1504 B.C.), the Supreme Council for Antiquities said today in an e-mailed statement.

Among the findings are the largest fortified mud-brick temples in Sinai, the statement quoted Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass as saying. The temples are located four kilometers (2.5 miles) to the east of the Suez Canal.

Horus is a god with the body of a man and the head of a falcon. He was one of the most important gods in ancient Egypt.

Inscriptions for kings Thutmosis II and Ramses II (1304- 1237 B.C.) also graced the walls of the temple, Hawass said. Ramses II was known for his military expeditions abroad.

The large temple was found within a fort that had 15 defensive towers, Hawass added.

Reuters UK

Archaeologists have unearthed four pharaonic temples in the Sinai peninsula, including one of mud brick with fortified walls that served as an important religious center at the eastern gateway to ancient Egypt.

Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities said on Tuesday the temples dated to the beginning of the rule of Thutmosis II, who reigned from about 1512 BC and was ultimately succeeded by his wife Hatshepsut, among ancient Egypt's most successful female rulers. "The discovery is considered among the biggest discoveries in Sinai and includes the largest fortified Pharaonic temple in Sinai, at 80 meters by 70 meters," it said in a statement.

"It is the only example of a mud brick temple in the New Kingdom era in the (Nile) Delta and Sinai."

It said that the temple was surrounded by walls four meters thick and contained paintings of a number of Egyptian deities, including Horus, the god of the sun.

AP/ Google

These temples mark the latest discovery by archaeologists digging up the remains of the city on the military road known as "Way of Horus." Horus is a falcon-headed god, who represented the greatest cosmic powers for ancient Egyptians.

The path once connected Egypt to Palestine and is close to present-day Rafah, which borders the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Archaeologist Mohammed Abdel-Maqsoud, chief of the excavation team, said the large brick temple could potentially rewrite the historical and military significance of the Sinai for the ancient Egyptians.

The temple contains four hallways, three stone purification bowls and colorful inscriptions commemorating Ramses I and II. The grandeur and sheer size of the temple could have been used to impress armies and visiting foreign delegations as they arrived in Egypt, authorities said.

The dig has been part of a joint project with the Culture Ministry that started in 1986 to find fortresses along the military road. Hawass said early studies suggested the fortified city had been Egypt's military headquarters from the New Kingdom (1569-1081 B.C.) until the Ptolemaic era, a period lasting about 1500 years.

There's a good photograph of the Tuthmosis II painting on the Chicago Tribune website.

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