CAIRO, EGYPT—Ahram Online reports that mudbrick walls, furnaces, the bases of limestone columns, pottery, and other artifacts dating to Egypt’s Late Period (664–332 B.C.) have been uncovered at the Tel Al-Pharaeen archaeological site in Lower Egypt. The walls and limestone columns are thought to have been part of a temple in the ancient city of Buto, while the furnaces may have been used to prepare offerings to the temple’s gods. Ayman Ashmawy of Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities said the site yielded a limestone statue of King Psamtik I seated on a throne, and a black granite statue that may have also depicted the ruler. It is missing its head, neck, base, and parts of its arms and legs, but the body is shown wearing a shendit, or royal kilt. Hossam Ghoneim, head of the excavation team, said part of a quartzite statue of the god Hur, a fragment of a hand sculpted from granite and bearing an inscription of the royal cartouche of King Psamtik I, and part of a menit necklace, the symbol of the goddess Hathor, were also recovered. For more, go to “Dawn of Egyptian Writing.”
