Bathhouse Dated to Third Century B.C. Uncovered in Egypt

CAIRO, EGYPT—Live Science reports that a 2,200-year-old bathhouse has been discovered in Egypt at the Red Sea port of Berenike. The huge structure dates to Egypt’s Hellenistic period, when Berenike was a military center and trade hub for war elephants imported from East Africa, according to Marek Wozniak of the Polish Academy of Science. The bathhouse featured two circular tholoi with 14 bathtubs for cold or lukewarm water in each, in addition to a separate room for hot baths. Water to supply the bathhouse was kept in two large reservoirs fed by a single well. A gymnasium may have once stood to the west of the bathhouse, Wozniak added, for the use of the military personnel posted in the city. To read about the discovery of a papyrus cache at the world's oldest known harbor, which is located on the Red Sea, go to "Journeys of the Pyramid Builders."