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Ancient town discovered at Kharga Oasis was last but one stop on the Forty Days Road

Archaeologists have stumbled upon what appears to be the remains of a substantial ancient settlement at Umm El-Mawagir in Kharga Oasis, Egypt.

Dated to the Second Intermediate Period (1650 to 1550 BC), the newfound city is at least a thousand years older than any of the other major surviving ancient remains in the area.

The ancient town lies along the bustling caravan routes connecting the Nile Valley of Egypt and the El-Kharga oasis with points as far as Darfur in western Sudan.

The discovery was made by an American-Egyptian archaeological team from Yale University that is systematically searching the area as part of the Theban Desert Road Survey, a project aimed at investigating and mapping the ancient caravan routes in Egypt’s Western Desert.

Click the images to see a larger version.

In a press statement, Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said that the newly discovered settlement is 1km long from north to south and 250m wide from east to west. The Secretary General (and Chasing Mummies star) added that archaeological evidence at the site indicates that the settlement inhabitants were part of an administrative centre and engaged in baking on a massive scale.

Administrative Centre &Bakery

Large mudbrick structures remains of rooms and halls similar to to administrative buildings previously found in several sites in the Nile Valley were found during the excavations, said Dr John Coleman Darnell, head of the Yale mission. Some of the constructions may have been used as a lookout post.

The archaeologists also unearthed part of an ancient bakery with two ovens and a potters wheel, used to make the ceramic bread forms in which the dough was baked.

The amount of remains found in the debris dumps outside the bakery suggest that the settlement produced a food surplus and may have even been feeding an army.

Dr. Deborah Darnell, co-director of the mission, said that early studies on the site revealed that the settlement began during the Middle Kingdom (2134-1569 BC) and lasted to the beginning of the New Kingdom (1569-1081 BC). However the site was at its peak from the late Middle Kingdom (1786-1665 BC) to the Second Intermediate Period (1600-1569 BC).

The Forty Days Road

The Kharga Oasis is the southernmost of Egypt’s five western oases. It is located about 200km west of the Nile Valley, and with its 150km length it is the largest oasis in Egypt’s Libyan desert. It used to be the before last stop on the Darb el-Arbain caravan route. Also known as the Forty Days Road, the long land route was important for the trade of gold, ivory, spices and wheat between Egypt and Nubia.

Nearby the Temple of Hibis, built by kings Darius I and II in the 6th century BC can be found. It isdedicated to the Theban triad – Amon Mut and Khonsu – and one of the best preserved Persian period temples in Egypt.

Gold Umayyad Coin with Kufic Inscriptions Discovered in Egypt

Both sides of the coin are decorated with kufic inscription. Egypt announced today that a gold Umayyad coin was unearthed last Thursday during an excavation at the Monastery of St. John the Little, in the desert west of the Nile Delta. In a statement Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the SCA, said both sides of the well-preservedcoinare decorated with Kufic inscriptions, the oldest calligraphic form of the Arabic script.

One side of the coin bears the name of Allah. The second side is inscribed: in the name of God the Merciful. The coin’s edge is decorated with the year it was minted. It dates to the year 103 of Higra (721 AD) during the reign of the 9th Umayyad Caliph Yazid II (687 724 AD).

The archaeological mission at Wadi el-Natrun is a joint venture between Yale University and the Supreme Council of Antiquities and involves the excavation and conservation of early Christian remains. The Monastery of St. John the Little is over seven square kilometres in area and containsabout a hundred unexcavated structures.

In late antiquity, the desert settlement called Scetis in Greek (now Wadi el-Natrun, or Natrian Desert, as it is often referenced in Christian literature) was a haven for early Egyptian monastic communities. Monks lived in small cells around the area which were later organized into more formal monastic orders.

The Monastery of John the Little was named after the fourth century desert father, Saint John the Dwarf (or ‘John Kolobos’) and remained one of the most active monasteries throughout Arab rule. It was demolished by a Berber raid in the fourteenth century, yet it is claimed a tree planted by Saint John the Dwarf known as ‘the Tree of Obedience’ still exists at the monastery today.