Temple Dedicated to Zeus Discovered in Egypt

News April 25, 2022

(Egypt's Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities)
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Egypt Zeus Temple
(Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities)

CAIRO, EGYPT—According to an Associated Press report, a temple dedicated to Zeus-Kasios has been discovered at the Tel el-Farma site, which is located in the northwestern Sinai Peninsula. Zeus-Kasios refers to Zeus, the ancient Greek god of the sky, and Syria’s Mount Kasios. Mostafa Waziri of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said that in 1910, French Egyptologist Jean Cledat found engraved blocks suggesting that a temple once stood in the area. Waziri explained that an Egyptian research team recently discovered red granite blocks, columns standing more than 25 feet tall, and a lintel that had been used to build the temple’s entrance gate. Marble blocks at the site may have served as steps leading to the mudbrick temple. Inscriptions indicate that the structure was renovated by the Roman emperor Hadrian in the early second century A.D. A photogrammetry survey of the building blocks will help researchers understand its design, Waziri concluded. To read about an inscribed block bearing an excerpt from the Odyssey that was found outside the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia, go to “Epic Find,” one of ARCHAEOLOGY’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2018.

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