Pharaoh bows to god of gods in newly discovered quarry carving

A team of archaeologists from a Swedish university has made some important discoveries at a large ancient Egyptian quarry. They’ve found a rock carving up to 3,000 years old depicting a pharaoh making offerings to the gods Amun-Ra and Thoth. They also discovered a rock inscription of the transfer of two obelisks from the quarry. Later discoveries also include 69 burials, of which half have been excavated, many were plundered, and at least four held the remains of children.

The carving dates to the Third Intermediate Period of the late dynastic period. The Third Intermediate began when Ramesses XI died in 1070 B.C. It ended with the Psamtik I’s founding of the 26th Dynasty in 664 BC.

The carvings and inscription are difficult to decipher because they are so worn and eroded. They were found at Gebel el Sisila, Egypt’s largest sandstone quarries, north of Aswan.

Mapcarta screenshot of Egypt and the River Nile showing Silsila, the red dot north of Aswan

Dr. Maria Nilsson and her team from Lund University have done an epigraphic study at Gebel el Silsila. An epigraph is an inscription on a building or, in this case, the walls and surfaces of the quarry.