Fallen rocks hid forgotten chamber of ancient Egyptian temple — until now. Take a look
The massive stone block weighed roughly 40,000 pounds and sat in front of a crumbling ancient temple in Egypt. When archaeologists eventually managed to move it, they revealed a forgotten section of the 2,000-year-old sanctuary.
The temple near Sohag was rediscovered in the early 1900s but remained largely ignored until recently when a joint team of Egyptian and German archaeologists began excavating the site, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a Nov. 23 Facebook post.
But the excavation wasn’t the usual shovel-up-the-dirt type project. Instead, archaeologists hauled away large fallen rocks using wooden rollers and blew away accumulated sand with air compressors.
The backbreaking work paid off and exposed the front of the ancient temple, the University of Tübingen said in a Nov. 25 news release. The roughly 170-foot-long structure had a tower on each end and entry gate in the middle.
A photo shows the northern tower, which held a forgotten chamber likely used as a storage room. A decorated corridor led into the roughly 20-foot by 10-foot space, officials said.
Near the chamber’s entrance, archaeologists found a carving of a fertility god next to a pair of very rare figures: an ibis bird and a decan, a star used as a clock at night, with a falcon head. A photo shows the carved decan figure.
Excavations at the northern tower also revealed a staircase leading up to a long-gone upper floor. Originally, the tower was probably about 60 feet tall, but only the bottom third remains, archaeologists said.
On the temple’s entrance, archaeologists uncovered more carvings and hieroglyphics. One section included the name of Ptolemy VIII, suggesting he was the pharaoh responsible for the temple’s construction.
Ptolemy VIII ruled ancient Egypt from 145 B.C. until his death in 116 B.C., according to Britannia. He was part of the Ptolemaic dynasty when Macedonian, or Greek, kings controlled Egypt. The dynasty lasted from 305 B.C. until 30 B.C.
Archaeologists dated the temple to the Ptolemaic dynasty but did not provide an exact age.
Excavations at the 2,000-year-old site near Sohag are ongoing. Archaeologists hope to find an entrance leading to the main sections of the temple under the rubble.
Sohag is a city along the Nile River in central Egypt and a roughly 310-mile drive south of Cairo.
Google Translate was used to translate the Facebook post from Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and news release from the University of Tübingen.
This story was originally published November 25, 2024 at 12:18 PM with the headline "Fallen rocks hid forgotten chamber of ancient Egyptian temple — until now. Take a look."
