June 22, 2022
An Egyptian-German mission working in the temple of On at Heliopolis have unearthed granite blocks from the reign of King Khufu, who built the Great Pyramid of Giza.
This is an unprecedented discovery as no artifacts from Khufu’s reign were found in that area before. The relics could be part of an unknown building or could have been moved from the Giza Plateau to the temple grounds during the Ramesside Period.
In addition to this major discovery, the team found material dating to different periods of ancient Egyptian history. They found material dating to Dynasty 0 which would push the earliest evidence of activity in the area to almost 3000 BCE. The material included pottery that might be related to religious activities at the site during the 3rd millennium BCE.
The team also found material dating to Dynasty 3 and 4 and a granite piece dated to the reign of Pepi I from Dynasty 6. Archaeologists also unearthed foundations of the temple courtyard dating to the New Kingdom, along with various statues and altars. Additionally, a statue base of king Amasis was found, along with alters dated to the Late Period and many fragments of Sphinx statues.
The team was conducting their work at the western side of the open-air museum on the site around the obelisk of king Senusert I when they made these discoveries.
