Suez Canal archaeological finds on display at Egyptian Museum

CAIRO: A temporarily exhibition, comprises 60 ancient Egyptian artifacts that were excavated from archaeological sites in the Suez Canal area, was inaugurated at Cairo’s Egyptian Museum Sunday by Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty.

Inaugurated to mark the News Suez Canal opening ceremony, scheduled to be held in Ismailia Thursday, “Discoveries of Egypt’s eastern gate,” is a one-month exhibition that highlights the history of the Suez Canal area, Damaty said in a statement Sunday.

“The exhibition displays 40 artifacts and 20 pharaonic stelai (upright stone slab bearing a commemorative inscription) that were unearthed in several ten archeological sites located to the east and north of the canal including Pelusium, Tharo, Tell Dafna,” Damaty said during the opening ceremony.

One of the Pharaonic stelai, dates back to the era of the 26^th Dynasty (664B.C.-525B.C.) Nubian King Apries, will be displayed in the exhibition for the first time. It was discovered in 2011 by the Egyptian Military Forces in Tell Dafna in the Suez Canal governorate of Ismailia, Damaty said.

The stele is 185 cm in length and 70 cm in width; it demonstrates a military campaign launched by Apries across Egypt’s borders through Sinai and Horus Military Road, the Minister added.

The area along Horus Road, which extended from Egypt’s Sinai to Gaza, includes 11 ancient fortresses depicting the strategic significance of Tharo city, Damaty noted.

“The exhibition shows the most important discoveries found at military fortresses dating back to the New Kingdom Period (1580B.C.-1080B.C.) and royal palaces from the eras of the New Kingdom Period Pharoahs Thutmose III and Ramesses II east of the canal,” head of the Antiquities Ministry’s Ancient Egyptian Department Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud was quoted by Youm7.

The exhibit also features a 26^th Dynasty temple excavated in Tell Dafna, west of the canal, Abdel Maqsoud said.

A limestone door lintel and other artifacts will be exhibited as well; Abdel Maqsoud said adding that a documentary on the history the Suez Canal will be also played at the Egyptian Museum.