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Four New Temples Unearthed in Egypt

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI
,
AP
posted: 4 HOURS 25 MINUTES AGO
comments: 60
filed under: Science News, World News
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CAIRO (April 21) - 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.
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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 3 meters 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.
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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.).
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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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Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-04-21 18:19:24
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TJGTHEDEPOMAN

09:58 PMApr 23 2009

HOW ABOUT THE PYRAMIDS IN ILLINOIS? THERE ARE ABOUT 3000 ANCIENT ARTIFACTS THAT HAVE BEEN FOUND HERE IN AMERICA FROM EGYPTIAN TO PHONECIAN CULTURES TO NAME A FEW FROM THE B.C. ERA AND YET OUR GOVERNMENT HAS KEPT MOST OF THEM A SECRET FROM US OR AT LEAST NOT MENTIONED THEM VERY OFTEN AS TO MAKE THEM SEEM UNIMPORTANT. SOMETHING TO DO WITH UNDERMINING THE EVOLUTION THEORY IS BEHIND THE SECRECY. SOMETHINGS OUT THERE...................................................

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Avice728

09:33 PMApr 23 2009

FEENEY CJ: odd that these temples are being uncovered now on the "Way of Horus"....very mysterious.....------------------------------------------------If you work hard enough at it, you can make something "very mysterious" out of almost anything.

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Zamalektsi

09:11 PMApr 23 2009

Hawas is such a jerk, and some of his workers such idiotic sensationalists on camera that they collectively come across as total idiots. Hawas must have a Government connection to have this superficial job, and take credit for everything everyone else discovers.

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Pjbl2223

07:31 PMApr 22 2009

FEENEY CJ wrote, " Horus, the falcon-headed god, worshipped for centuries as the greatest cosmic power.....odd that these temples are being uncovered now on the "Way of Horus"....very mysterious.....">> Not at all Feeney, the sands of Egypt have been burying great works in Egypt since the earliest dynasties. With the onset of Roman, and Christianity influence in Egypt the need for ancient forts disappeared. Until they were not only lost but forgotten.

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Zoetwe

07:27 PMApr 22 2009

Feeney, ya i see the mystery as well with the timing. but it is the satelites up there that are seeing all this new stuff, from sunken ships in the ocean to burried remains of civilizations gone by.

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FEENEY CJ

07:17 PMApr 22 2009

Horus, the falcon-headed god, worshipped for centuries as the greatest cosmic power.....odd that these temples are being uncovered now on the "Way of Horus"....very mysterious.....

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bulgeinmyplants

06:50 PMApr 22 2009

IF YOU WANT TO FIND ALL THE GRAVES,... JUST ASK THE " GOOD TOMBER MAN "...... JUST LISTEN FOR THE TRUCK THAT PLAYS MEGADEATH.............BADA BOOM ,...BADA BING !!!!!!!

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Pjbl2223

05:44 PMApr 22 2009

PLCHom you're right. However there are some serious problems with that theory. Like this discovery more or less makes it impossible for the 19th dynasty containing the Exodus. While the 18th dynasty history makes it almost as impossible. So, with the two dynastic favorites out of the running. Any theory that is based upon on the old 19th, 18th dynastys is also out. I am sorry, I know so many people want to lose scripture into ancient history. It isn't going to be so easy.

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Pjbl2223

05:27 PMApr 22 2009

The belief that Moses lived in the 18th dynasty is based upon the work of Sir Isaac Newton. To insist that Moses lived and fled Egypt with the slaves of this time. Shows a shocking lack of the wealth, power, and history of the 18th dynasty. The Empire period started during the 18th dynasty, it no more contains the roots of Exodus than the USA in 1776. Ramesses' II heir Merenptah actually records the "Princes" of Israel, for all you great Biblical Scholars I ask when did Israel have Princes? Not during the Judge's period if I remember my scripture.

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VKC222

05:18 PMApr 22 2009

im not sure if thats IN CAPS because you disagree w me, but that is basically what I am saying, only naming the tribe for the sake of the general reader.Comparing the Historical tribes with modern day peoples and societys is a tricky and silly endeavor.

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