BARCELONA, SPAIN—According to a statement released by the University of Barcelona, Joan Oller Guzmán and his colleagues have uncovered a temple at the ancient seaport of Berenice, which is located in Egypt’s Eastern Desert. Dubbed the Falcon Shrine for a group of 15 headless falcons and eggs found buried within it, the temple has been dated from the fourth to the sixth centuries A.D., when the city may have been partially occupied by the Blemmyes, a nomadic group from Nubia. Inscriptions at the site include the names of some Blemmyes kings. The Falcon Shrine is thought to have been adapted to accommodate a combination of the beliefs of the Blemmyes and Egyptian traditions. Offerings such as harpoons, cube-shaped statues, and a stela recording various religious activities have also been found, Oller explained. Read the original scholarly article about this research in the American Journal of Archaeology. To read about excavations of an animal cemetery at Berenice, go to “Around the World: Egypt.”
