A German-Swiss archaeological mission has discovered an ancient carpentry workshop in Elephantine Island in Aswan some 800km south of Cairo. The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said that the workshop dates back to 18th Dynasty, some 3,500 years ago, and included a large collection of woodworking tools such as axes.
“Two axes with wooden handles have been found in the workshop,” said Professor Cornelius von Pilgrim, director of the Cairo-based Swiss Institute of Architectural and Archeological Research on Ancient Egypt, and head of the joint German-Swiss mission. One of the two axes, he said, was of an ancient Syrian style.
“This axe is of particular importance since it is the first Syrian-style axe discovered in Egypt so far,” he said, hinting at the strong relations between Egypt and Syria in ancient history.
Another discovery of special importance was one again made in Aswan by an Egyptian archaeological mission in the region near the Temple of Kom Ombo. The temple dates back to the Greco-Roman period some 300 years BC. The discovery exposed an architectural piece made of sandstone in Aswan, said Mustafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
“Primary studies proved that the unearthed sandstone piece dates back to the reign of Emperor Philip III Arrhidaeus, who ruled Egypt after the death of his half-brother Alexander the Great.” This, he explained, suggests that the Temple of Kom Ombo could be older than known. The discovered piece carried a number of inscriptions of prayers and praises to Emperor Philip III Arrhidaeus and to the Nile crocodile god Sobek, the deity of the ancient city of Kom Ombo.
Watani International
26 November 2017