Egypt: News Briefs at June 27, 2001, Egypt Antiquity News

Antiquity News Briefs

June 27th, 2001

By Amargi Hiller

Southern Cairo antiquity officials discovered the ancient blueprints of the Kordi Mosque at Khayamia in historic Cairo. The blueprints were accidentally discovered during renovations of the mosque. This mosque was one of the mosques where the authorities have very little information on, so the blueprints are considered a unique find.

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An archeology team under the direction of the South Sinai Antiquity Administration Office has unearthed an ancient city near the sea shore at Dahab City. Excavations have already begun to reveal the historical origin of the city. Officials say that this find is extremely important and will have large effect on the current studies of the Egyptian ancient history. The date period of the city is still being determined.

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Mr. Sabry Abd El-Aziz, Head of Antiquities for Upper Egypt, announced today that an Egyptian/French archaeology team has unearthed an Osiris tomb. The tomb dates back to the 26th Dynasty and the Ptelomic era. The tomb contains small statues of the God Osiris (God of the Underworld). The tomb was found in an area north of Karnak.

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Dr Gaballah Ali Gaballah, Head of the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA), gave permission to a French expedition team to renovate the religious pyramids at Sakkara. Included in the restoration efforts are certain blocks which will be replaced back to their original location.

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The French expedition at the Pyramid of King Pepe I had just finished their restorations there when they unearthed a new pyramid. This pyramid is believed to belong to King Pepe I's mother and the pyramid contains rare scripting.

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Mohammed Abd El-Aziz, Head of the Upper Egyptian Antiquities, announced today the discovery of an ancient water reservoir in Alexandria in Bab El-Akhdar St. The water reservoir dates back to the 14th century. Unfortunately this historical monument is threatened by the ill planned housing at this area. Underground ground water levels have risen to dangerous levels thus threatening the structure of the reservoirs.

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Notable Antiquity Events - June 28, 2001

Almudir Bridge is the Most Ancient Stone Building in the World

What's the first stone building built by man and still remains till now? That's an important question that always comes to mind. Archeologists are working hard to answer this question. The common answer has always been the Pyramid of Zoser in Sakkara. But it seems there's another answer to this question, since a team of archaeologists have confirmed today that they've found a mysterious stone building with huge walls. The scientists believe it was built 200 years before the Zoser's Pyramid.

Ian Matisson, head of the archaeological team, stated that the stone building known as "Almudir Bridge" in Sakkara is the most ancient stone building on the planet. Almudir Bridge takes a rectangular shape, with its dimensions being 600 meters high and 400 meters long. Only parts of it remain above the surface of the ground, and the site was originally found from aerial photos taken in 1920.

In the last few months, Mr. Matisson & his team has been using geophysical methods to reveal the buried parts under the sand. The results suggest that huge pieces of stone make up the base of the structure, with a base width of 15 meters.

The team is puzzled as to the reason that such a structure was built since there is currently no evidence of any other structure of building surrounding the bridge. Experts estimate the date of the structure to 2900 BC. Zoser's Pyramid was built approximately 2649 BC. This suggests that the Almudir Bridge was there 250 years before Imhotep built the pyramid. It is believed that some of the stones from the structure were used to build Zoser's Pyramid.