This picture released Tuesday April 21, 2009, by Egypt's
Supreme Council of Antiquities shows Pharaoh Ramses II,
right and Geb, god of earth, carved on a wall at one of four
recently unearthed new temples in Qantara 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 April 21, 2009.
Four New Egyptian Temples Discovered in Sinai
(AP) 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.
EGYPT
Population: 80,335,036
Area: Slightly more than three
times the size of New Mexico
The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to
the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the world's great civilizations. A unified kingdom
arose circa 3200 B.C., and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia.
The last native dynasty fell to the Persians in 341 B.C., who in turn were replaced by the Greeks, Romans,
and Byzantines. It was the Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the 7th century and who
ruled for the next six centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to
govern after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517.
Following the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation hub,
but also fell heavily into debt. Ostensibly to protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypt's
government in 1882, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Partially
independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty following World War II.
The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasser have altered the timehonored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population (the
largest in the Arab world), limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources
and stress society. The government has struggled to ready the economy for the new millennium through
economic reform and massive investment in communications and physical infrastructure.
Government: Republic
Ethnic groups: Egyptian 98%, Berber, Nubian, Bedouin, and Beja 1%, Greek, Armenian, other European
(primarily Italian and French) 1%
Religions: Muslim (mostly Sunni) 90%, Coptic 9%, other Christian 1%
Languages: Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes
Name_____________________________
4 New Egyptian Temples Discovered
Each question is worth 5 points. For full credit, you must answer in complete
sentences and include all appropriate information. Explain your answers!
Continue on the back if you need more room
1. Where in Egypt is the Sinai?
2. One of the newly-discovered temples is quite large. What else is remarkable about
it??
3. What do the archaeologists think the temple at the city of Quantara was used for?
4. Why are archaeologists looking for more military fortresses in the area?
5. When was the Suez Canal built? What effect did it have on the economy of
Egypt?
6. When did Egypt become an independent nation?