4 New Egyptian Temples Discovered In Sinai
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 feet thick, 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.
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.
In a previous find, archaeologists there reported finding the first ever New Kingdom temple to be found in northern Sinai. Studies indicated the temple was built on top of an 18th Dynasty fort (1569-1315 B.C.).
Last year, a collection of reliefs belonging to King Ramses II and King Seti I (1314-1304 B.C.) were also unearthed along with rows of warehouses used by the ancient Egyptian army during the New Kingdom era to store wheat and weapons.
Abdel-Maqsoud said the fortified city corresponded to the inscriptions of the Way of Horus found on the walls of the Karnak Temple in Luxor which illustrated the features of 11 military fortresses that protected Egypt's eastern borders. Only five of them have been discovered to date.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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 feet thick, 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.
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.
In a previous find, archaeologists there reported finding the first ever New Kingdom temple to be found in northern Sinai. Studies indicated the temple was built on top of an 18th Dynasty fort (1569-1315 B.C.).
Last year, a collection of reliefs belonging to King Ramses II and King Seti I (1314-1304 B.C.) were also unearthed along with rows of warehouses used by the ancient Egyptian army during the New Kingdom era to store wheat and weapons.
Abdel-Maqsoud said the fortified city corresponded to the inscriptions of the Way of Horus found on the walls of the Karnak Temple in Luxor which illustrated the features of 11 military fortresses that protected Egypt's eastern borders. Only five of them have been discovered to date.
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You must truly live within a biased bubble. Read and look at the archialogical findings of Israel.
Death to OPEC.
Posted by quapawsix at 6:38 PM
And if they did, do you think we would know about it? Of course not.
Those enslaved to religion and the ideology that goes with it would never allow it. Anything that runs counter or is foreign to their belief system must not - cannot - be true.
Religion poisons everything.
Instead of Countries fighting each other all of the time. And it does absolutely no good when the fighting is over. Posted by hbevis at 4:42 PM : Apr 21, 2009
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Absolutely! I agree. Amen to that!
It would be good if they could utilize "all hands", including foreign archaeologists, and get these sites dug out and recorded while they can! With changing weather patterns, or a natural disaster, and the opportunity could be lost forever!
After all, this isn't just Egyptian history we're talking about, it's WORLD history as well!
We know so little about what we call the ancient past, we should try to attain any knowledge
of it that we can!