U.S. and Polish archaeologists successful at Berenike

Serwis Nauka w Polsce

Fragments of pottery with inscriptions in one of pre-Islamic languages have been found by a U.S-Polish team of archaeologists near Berenike, a Greco-Roman harbour on the Egyptian Red Sea coast. The finds confirm that Berenike was the most active Red Sea port during Hellenistic and Roman times. Inscriptions and other written materials found in Berenike have been written in 12 different languages. This attests to the cosmopolitan mix of people who lived in or passed through the town.

Berenike was founded by Ptolemy II Philadelphus in 285-246 B.C.

The international team of archaeologists led by professor Steven Sidebotham of the University of Delaware and Iwona Zych of the Warsaw University Mediterranean Archaeology Department have resumed excavation at Berenike after an eight-year break.

See the above page for the full story.