A few additional details that weren't covered in yesterday's posts are provided in the following post:
Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni announced the discovery of a military fortress belonging to the 19th dynasty in Tal Hebwa, 1.8 miles east of the Suez Canal. The huge defense fortress was built to ensure the delta entrance and to protect the capital built by the ancient king Ramses the second.
The fortress is 500 meters long, 250 meters wide with 13-meter thick walls. The fort has a 12-meter southern entrance. The water canal that surrounds the fort was found as well. The Supreme Council of Antiquities found the monument as part of its plan to discover the military path that extends from Egypt to Palestinian lands through the northern parts of Sinai. Some human and horse skeletal remains were found indicating that battles went on around the fortress.
Experts said that this fort is considered to be the largest fortress found yet, with 24 defense towers 20-meters wide and four meters thick.
5 comments:
Hi Andie, It was recently noted on the Egyptologists Electronic Forum (EEF), and also by myself (I heard a lecture about Tell Hebua and the fortified town of Tjaru in 2005 at the BM) that there seems to be some recycling of "old" news going on as these are presented as new in the press. This is an interesting phenomenon, don't know why it happens, and why are these things being released as new... in any case, love your blog! All the best, Mia
Hi again, I think I might have to retract a little of what I said earlier today, it turns out that there might be something more to that Tharo/Tjaru thing than what I thought. Apparently they have found more forts? Or this is an adjacent for to the town itself...? The reports are a bit confunsing to me. In any case, here's another link to French news report:
http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/
news/culture/20070722-dicovery-pharaonic-
sinai-desert-military-city-egypt.html
All best, Mia
Hi Mia,
You are so right about the recycling of old news - it is just so confusing! I have become very wary since reporting some recycled news a couple of months ago, but this did seem to be the genuine article. But this one appears to be a case where we will just have to wait and see what else is forthcoming! Thanks very much for your comment, and for the link - much appreciated. All the very best, Andie
Ramses the second was one of the most important kings of the Middle Kingdom, which ran from the 11th dynasty to the end of the 14th dynasty (roughly between 2030 BC to 1640 BC). He brought Egypt to imperial power.
Uh, right. Middle Kingdom. Check.
And since when did "Tjaru"/"Sile" become "Tharo"? Or are the Egyptians still using 19th century transliterations? Actually they are, so I retract the question
As someone just beginning to study A.E. seriously, ther single most confusing thing is that every single settlement seems to have as many names and spelling variations of each name as there are people excavating it.
Tharo/Tjaru aside, I hope we get to see more on this in the coming weeks, as if this is new it's a fantastic discovery.
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