Syria unearths 2,300-year-old pharaonic engraving

AFP

Syrian archaeologists have unearthed a hieroglyph close to Damascus which dates back to the pharaonic period around 1,300 years BC, the official SANA news agency reported on Saturday.

"The antiquities department has discovered a hieroglyph on the outskirts of Damascus, 25 kilometres (15 miles) east (of the capital), engraved into a basalt stone slab (measuring) 70 by 50 cm (28 by 20 inches)," SANA said.

"This type of slab was quite widespread during the era of the Pharaohs, who used it to mark a special occasion," department head Mahmud Hammud said, adding text on the stone dated back to the reign of Pharaoh Rameses II, between 1,290 and 1,224 years BC.

The slab shows the leg of the king and behind it, the foot of the Egyptian god Amon. Amon's name figures in the text below the engraving although the date is illegible.

A similar engraving which dates from the same period was discovered several years ago in Al-Kiswah region near the capital and is on display at the Damascus national museum.