Archaeology & History

'Major find' as long lost Egyptian sun temple unearthed

By T.K. Randall
November 14, 2021 ·  4 comments

The altar of the first sun temple discovered at the site. Image Credit: Jon Bodsworth Built thousands of years ago, each sun temple was constructed for a specific pharaoh while they were still alive with the aim of assisting their ascension to the state of godhood, both in this life and in the next.

Only six of these temples were ever built and to date, only two of them have ever been found.

Now however, archaeologists excavating the site of one of the two known sun temples in Abu Gorab believe that they have discovered evidence of a third one.

If true, it would be one of the most significant discoveries in Egypt in 50 years.The evidence comes in the form of an older base of mud bricks found underneath the remains of the sun temple built for the pharoah Nyuserre Ini who ruled for around 30 years in the 25th century BC.

"We knew that there was something below the stone temple of Nyuserre," Dr Massimiliano Nuzzolo told The Telegraph. "The fact that there is such a huge entrance would point to a new building."

"So, why not another sun temple, one of the missing sun temples?"

Further excavations have revealed additional evidence pointing to this conclusion, however it may be a while before the discovery can be fully confirmed.

If this really is a third sun temple, it will be a major discovery indeed.

Source: Mail Online | Comments (4)

Tags: Egypt, Sun Temple