Archaeologists have discovered an ancient Egyptian temple hidden in a cliff. The temple dates back about 2,100 years and was discovered at the site of Athribis , located about 200 kilometers north of Luxor .
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While excavating the temple, which is made of stone, the team found the remains of reliefs showing King Ptolemy VIII offering sacrifices to the lion-headed goddess Repit and her son Kolanthes, the team said in a statement.
Repit was the wife of Min-Ra, a god associated with fertility. The Egyptian temple may have been specifically dedicated to Repit, but "the name of this building is not yet known," project leader Christian Leitz, a professor of Egyptology at the University of Tübingen in Germany. The team hopes to learn more as excavations and analyses continue, Leitz added.
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The team also uncovered a chamber that once held temple vessels and, later, amphorae, or clay vessels with two handles and a narrow neck. At the entrance to the chamber, the team found reliefs depicting Repit and Min-Ra, with one of the reliefs showing Min-Ra accompanied by two Decans— stars that allow people to tell the time at night. Decans have humanoid bodies with animal heads—in this case, one has the head of a falcon and the other the head of an ibis. Leitz said other temples depict Decans near gods, although there are usually more than two accompanying them.
Athribis is located near the modern city of Sohag. The team began uncovering the Egyptian temple in 2022, and the site is part of a larger temple complex that archaeologists have been excavating since 2012.
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Live Science reached out to scholars not involved in the research for comment. Sarah Symons and Juan Antonio Belmonte, who are paleoastronomers who have done extensive work in Egypt, both said the discovery is intriguing but that more information about the temple and the decans is needed.
Source: livescience
