Is this another thousand-year-old discovery? Archeologists have stumbled on a “giant fence” at the site of an ancient capital in the northern region of Nile Delta, according to the antiquities ministry of Egypt.
The fence, estimated to date back over 3,500 years, was discovered by the Austrian Archeological Institute, according to Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty.
The minister said the fence – situated in Tal el-Dabaa in Sharqiya, the province where Egyptian capital Avaris was located back then – was from the Middle Kingdom of the pharaoh and may have formed part of a city wall. The period comprised the ancient Asiatic people Hyksos’ invasion of Egypt.
The sandstone-made fence was described to be at least 500 meters (1,640 feet) in length and 7 meters (23 feet) in thickness.
This 3,500-year-old fence is not the only ancient discovery made by modern-day scientists. Nearly a century ago, the tomb of King Tutankhamun was found and continues to shed light on the Egyptian royalty’s life and death.
This year, based on research done by archeologist Dr. Nicholas Reeves, a high-resolution scan of the ancient king’s tomb lent him a look into two secret entrances: one leading up to a storage room and another to what is possibly the tomb of Queen Nefertiti.
Reeves believed that the secret opening to the right of the entrance shaft leads to the elusive tomb of Nefertiti, as it is characteristic of burial chambers reserved for queens.
If the scientist is correct, the small size of Tutankhamun’s tomb – deemed a bit small for such level of eminence – would appear to be an addition to a burial chamber already in place.
"Each piece of evidence on its own is not conclusive, but put it all together and it's hard to avoid my conclusion," said Reeves, whose discovery maintains the potential to be the biggest find in archeological record.
Photo: David Stanley | Flickr
