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Lost 4,500 year old sun temple discovered in Egypt


(CNN) – Archaeologist discovered what they believed to be one of Of Egypt lost the “temple of the sun”, dating back to the mid-25th century BC.

The team discovered remains buried beneath another temple at Abu Ghurab, about 12 miles south of Cairo, says Massimiliano Nuzzolo, assistant professor of Egyptology at the Institute of Mediterranean Cultures Hai and Orient of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, told CNN on Monday.

In 1898, archaeologists working at the site discovered the sun temple of Nyuserra, also known as Neuserre or Nyuserre, the sixth king of the 5th Dynasty, who ruled Egypt from 2400 to 2370 BC.

Among the finds were dozens of beer bottles.

Among the finds were dozens of beer bottles.

M. Osman

Now, discoveries made on the latest mission suggest it was built on the remains of another sun temple.

Nuzzolo told CNN in an email: “19th-century archaeologists excavated only a very small part of this mud-brick building below the Nyuserra stone temple and concluded that this is an earlier stage of construction. of the same temple.

“Now our findings prove that this is a completely different building, erected before Nyuserra,” he said.

The finds include seals engraved with the names of kings who reigned before Nyuserra, which served as vase stoppers, as well as the base of two limestone columns that were part of the entrance gate and a limestone doorway .

The team said the temple was built of mud bricks with some stone elements.

The team said the temple was built of mud bricks with some stone elements.

M. Nuzzolo

Nuzzolo said the original building was made entirely of mud bricks. Some of the vessels, he added, were filled with ceremonial mud, which was used only in specific religious ceremonies, and the pottery dates to the mid-25th century BC, a generation or two. before Nyuserra lived.

The mud-brick monument is “very impressive in size,” said Nuzzolo, but Nyuserra ritually demolished it to build her own sun temple.

While these temples were dedicated to the sun god Ra, the king legitimized his authority through the temple and made himself the only son of the Sun god on Earth, he said.

Now archaeologists will analyze the artifacts to learn more about daily life at the time the temple was built.

Now archaeologists will analyze the artifacts to learn more about daily life at the time the temple was built.

M. Osman

“Indirectly, the main purpose of the temple was to become a place to worship the living king,” Nuzzolo said.

According to Nuzzolo, historical sources say a total of six sun temples were built, but before that only two had been excavated. From these sources we know that the sun temples were all built around Abu Gharab, he added.

Nuzzolo says Nyuserra’s sun temple has a layout very similar to the mud-brick building but is larger and made of stone.

He added that the mudbrick building would not have been built by Nyuserra, because Egyptian kings are not known to have built temples in brick and then rebuilt in stone.

“Usually, when a king was in a hurry for some reason, he would build the monument out of mud bricks with the main components of stone,” Nuzzolo said. also built of mud bricks with a few stone elements.

“This may have facilitated their disappearance over the centuries, like some other ancient Egyptian monuments built with similar perishable materials,” he said.

“Moreover, mud-brick construction can easily be torn down and buried under other constructions, as it may have been in our case.”

The team hopes to find out which king was responsible for building the temple through further excavations at the site, he said.

In particular, studying pottery will allow them to learn more about how people lived at that time, Nuzzolo added, including what they ate and what they believed.

The discovery by Nuzzolo and his team is featured on National Geographic’s “The Lost Treasures of Egypt” program, which airs on Sunday.

The digging is part of the joint mission of the University of Naples L’Orientale and the Polish Academy of Sciences.

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