CAIRO, EGYPT—Antiquities Minister Mohammed Ibrahim announced that a harbor and papyri dating to the third millennium B.C. were discovered at the site of Wadi el-Jarf, located on the Red Sea. A team of Egyptian and French archaeologists uncovered stone anchors, stone cutting tools, homes for the port’s workers, and 30 caves closed up with stone blocks bearing the name of pyramid-builder King Khufu. “The papyri, which provide detailed accounts of daily life and traditions at the time of the Old Kingdom, are considered the oldest ever found,” Ibrahim said.
Egypt’s Oldest Port Uncovered
News April 12, 2013
Recommended Articles
Off the Grid November/December 2026
San Agustín, Colombia
Letter from Cape Canaveral November/December 2026
Dawn of the Space Age
Archaeologists have made surprising discoveries spanning 3,000 years at the birthplace of American space exploration
Features November/December 2026
Kingdom of Fortresses
How diverse and far-flung Iron Age chiefdoms united to challenge the Assyrian Empire
Features November/December 2026
A Tomb of One's Own
Life behind the scenes in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings
-
Features March/April 2013
Pirates of the Original Panama Canal
Searching for the remains of Captain Henry Morgan's raid on Panama City
(Courtesy Captain Morgan Rum Co.) -
Features March/April 2013
A Soldier's Story
The battle that changed European history, told through the lens of a young man’s remains
(Courtesy Dominique Bosquet) -
Letter From Cambodia March/April 2013
The Battle Over Preah Vihear
A territorial dispute involving a 1,100-year-old Khmer temple on the Thai-Cambodian border turns violent
(Masuru Goto) -
Artifacts March/April 2013
Pottery Cooking Balls
Scientific analyses and experimental ARCHAEOLOGY determine that mysterious, 1,000-year-old balls of clay found at Yucatán site were used in cooking
(Courtesy Bolonchen Regional Archaeological Project)