Press Release
Cultural Minister Farouk Hosni announced today that the Austrian mission at Tell el-Daba has located the southern suburban quarters of the ancient city of Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos in the Second Intermediate Period (1664-1569 BC). The excavation team found this area using a combination of magnetometry and resistivity surveys.Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said that the computer-generated images of the city, which is still buried under the ground, show a very detailed layout of ancient Avaris. Several architectural features including houses, temples, streets, cemeteries and palaces can be seen. The team has also been able to make out the arrangement of neighborhoods and living quarters.
“Using such a special scientific survey to locate such a city is the only way to gain a better understanding of such a large area at one time,” Hawass pointed out.
Dr. Irene Forstner-Müller, Director of the mission said that approximately 2.6 square kilometers have been investigated using a combination of geophysical survey and excavation.
She explained that the aim of the magnetometric and resistivity surveys were to define the borders of ancient Avaris. The team has succeeded in identifying a collection of houses and a possible harbor area. A series of pits of different sizes are also visible but their function has not yet been determined.
dawn.com
Austrian archaeologists have located an underground Egyptian city which they believe to be Avaris, the capital used by the Hyksos who ruled 3,600 years ago, the culture ministry said on Sunday.
The Austrian mission carried out a geophysical survey of the area allowing them to identify parts of Avaris in the Nile Delta near the modern town of Tal al-Dabaa, northeast of Cairo.
“The pictures taken using radar show an underground city complete with streets, houses and tombs which gives a general overview of the urban planning of the city,” antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said in a statement.
“The aim of the geophysical survey was to identify the size of the ancient city and the mission managed to identify a large number of houses and streets and a port inside the city,” said Irene Mueller who heads the Austrian mission.
“The mission also identified one of the Nile river tributaries that passed through the city, as well as two islands,” she was quoted as saying in the statement.
Yahoo! News
An Austrian archaeological team has used radar imaging to determine the extent of the ruins of the one time 3,500-year-old capital of Egypt's foreign occupiers, said the antiquities department Sunday.
Egypt was ruled for a century from 1664-1569 B.C. by the Hyksos, a warrior people from Asia, possibly Semitic in origin, whose summer capital was in the northern Delta area.
Irene Mueller, the head of the Austrian team, said the main purpose of the project is to determine how far the underground city extends.
The radar imaging showed the outlines of streets, houses and temples underneath the green farm fields and modern town of Tel al-Dabaa.
Archaeology chief Zahi Hawass said in the statement that such noninvasive techniques are the best way define the extent of the site.
Earth Times
Austrian archaeologists located a 3,600-year-old underground city, believed to part of the ancient city of Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos, the Ministry of Culture announced Sunday.
The city was located during the Austrian mission's excavations in the Tel al-Dabaa area, north-east of Cairo, using a radar.
The photos taken give an overview of the urban planning of the city, which appears to be complete, with streets, buildings and temples, Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council Of Antiquities, said.
Irene Mueller, head of the Austrian team, said that the geophysics archaeological survey work done by the team helped them identify one of the Nile river tributaries that passed through the city, as well as two islands.
No comments:
Post a Comment