Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities through its archaeological mission operating in the Gabal el-Haridi area of Sohag has uncovered one of the checkpoints and observation spots from the era of King Ptolemy III.
That is after completing the excavation work for the discovery of the remains of the Ptolemaic temple that the missions of the Supreme Council of Antiquities succeeded in discovering parts of, twelve years ago.
Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mustafa Waziri explained that the discovered checkpoint is a brick building similar to the so-called Tower House.
It was built for the purpose of inspection, control, tight traffic between the borders of the regions, collection of taxes, and securing ships and navigation in the Nile.
Waziri said that the discovered temple was dedicated to the goddess Isis, dating back to the era of King Ptolemy III and extends for a length of 33 m and a width of 14 m, with an axis from north to south.
Head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Ayman Ashmawy said that it consists of an open, rectangular hall, in the middle of which is a row of four columns, followed by a transverse hall with two columns in the middle.
This ushers into the Holy of Holies, and in the middle of the temple is a staircase. The floor of the temple was formed from stone slabs of local limestone.
During the excavations, the mission found a limestone refining basin on the northern side of the temple and a votive plaque for the temple. On the northern side, the mission also found five ostraca with Demotic inscriptions, 38 coins dating back to the Roman era and a small part of a limestone pillar, in addition to unearthing some animal bones, which through their study showed that they represented the food of the temple priests.
In the tombs dating back to the Ptolemaic era, 30 mummy cards were found, which were considered as a burial permit written in ancient Greek only and in hieratic and demotic scripts. These cards usually include the name of the deceased, the name of his father or mother, his domicile, occupation, age at death, and some supplications for the ancient Egyptian gods.
The mission also carried out some documentation work for a group of quarries on the site, including one belonging to King Ramses III of the 19th Dynasty.