Mysterious structure discovered buried beneath ancient Egyptian city

The discovery was made using satellite images, which made it possible to identify a mud brick structure measuring approximately 25 by 20 meters. Scientists believe it was used as a temple.

Archaeologists working in Egypt’s Nile Delta have discovered one structure so far hidden beneath the ruins of one of the oldest cities in the regionthanks to cutting-edge scanning techniques. The discovery was reported in a new published in Acta Geophysica.

The archaeological site, located in the northwest of the Nile Delta, dates back almost 6,000 years and has been known by various names throughout history. The ancient Egyptians they called him Per-Wadjetnamed after the snake goddess Wadjet, while the Greeks later renamed it Buto. Over the centuries, the city went through repeated cycles of construction and destruction before finally falling into ruin around the 7th century AD.

Due to challenging conditions such as dense layers of mud, groundwater and the enormous expanse of the site, traditional excavation methods proved difficult. To overcome these obstacles, a research team led by Mohamed Abouarab of Kafrelsheikh University employed a combination of satellite radar images and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to explore the subsurface.

Using data from the Sentinel-1 satellite, the team identified several anomalies which suggested the presence of buried structures. They then carried out detailed sweeps of the soil using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), inserting electrodes into the earth to measure how electrical currents propagated through the underground layers. This method allowed researchers to “see” what was below the surface without the need for immediate excavation.

The images revealed a large mud brick structure measuring approximately 25 by 20 metersburied between 3 and 6 meters below the surface. Later excavations confirmed the findings, revealing walls and artifacts dating back about 2,600 years to the Saitan period of Egypt.

Among the discoveries were numerous amulets and ritual objects, including representations of well-known deities such as Isis, Horus and Taweret. One particularly unusual artifact combined features of a baboon, a falcon, and a dwarf deity known as Patikos. These findings suggest that the structure may have served a religious or ceremonial purposelike a temple or priestly complex, refers to the .

Researchers believe that the archaeological site may hold even more secrets. The first results indicate that another temple may still be buried deeper under layers of clay.