Excavation of New Kingdom Shrine Completed in Cairo

CAIRO, EGYPT—Ahram Online reports that the excavation of a shrine dedicated to Ramesses II in Cairo’s Matariya district by a mission from Ain Shams University has been completed. Ramesses II was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty, and he ruled from 1279 to 1213 B.C. Mamdouh El-Damaty, the head of the mission, said the shrine was used to celebrate the Heb Sed festival during the reign of Ramesses I and continuing through the rest of the Nineteenth and the Twentieth Dynasty. Lintels, scarabs, amulets, pots, and blocks engraved with hieroglyphics were also recovered. To read about excavation of a structure erected for a top minister of Ramesses II, go to “A Pyramid Fit for a Vizier.”