Ancient structure, discovered in Akhmim, thought to have been built in the 5th century B.C. by Pharoah Uzo
Archaeologists in Egypt say they have found a 4,500-year-old temple in Akhmim, a large village 40 miles south of Cairo.
They claim it may have been built by a pharaoh more than a millennium before the pyramids were built. Ancient Egyptian monuments lost to the sands Read more
The temple “may have been directly or indirectly related to the pharaoh Tutankhamun, although there is no known link in this case between Tutankhamun and Akhmim,” the World Monuments Fund (WMF) said in a statement on Wednesday.
The study found the temple was built in the 5th century BC by Uzo, the ruler of Egypt’s ancient Southern Kingdom, on the south bank of the Nile.
The team found patterns of stone layers around the temple, which they believe are a continuation of the pyramids. The walls of the temple are adorned with flat, horizontal stone slabs, while the outside is covered in oxcart carvings that mark the entrances of the temple, the WCS said.
Wm. Edwin Blanco, a geologist who is head of a private foundation studying ancient burial structures, said they were initially convinced the temple belonged to a pharaoh but had to retract their opinion when they saw extensive erosion on the temple.
“Those signs – the discoveries here – indicate that this was likely built during the Uzo period,” he said.
The team is planning to analyse the remains and ashes of someone who may have been buried in the temple, WMF said.
The images below, from Via Celeste, were added by the WWF.