News: Four wells discovered

Egypt State Information Service

Egyptian -French archaeologists have unearthed in El Sharqiya governorate four ancient wells that date back to the 25th and 26th pharaonic dynasties.

The wells are part of a newly-discovered Sacred Lake in a temple to the Egyptian goddess Mut in the ruins of ancient Tanis.

Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary General Zahi Hawwas said on Sunday 8/11/2009 the wells vary in shape and size.

Two of them have circular shapes with a 210-220 cm diameter, while the other two are square.

They are believed to have been used by the people for daily purposes, he added.

The Sacred Lake was uncovered in October.It was found 12 meters below ground at the San al-Hagar archaeological site in Egypt's eastern Nile Delta and was 15 meters long and 12 meters wide and built out of limestone blocks. It was in good condition.

It was the second sacred lake found at Tanis, which became the northern capital of ancient Egypt in the 21st pharaonic dynasty, over 3,000 years
ago.

The first lake at the site was found in 1928.The goddess Mut, sometimes depicted as a vulture, was the wife of Amun, god of wind and the breath of life. She was also mother of the moon god Khonsu.