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| Ptolemaic Temple in Sohag |
An Egyptian-German archaeological mission, in cooperation with the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the University of Tübingen, has uncovered a complete structure of a Ptolemaic temple during its work near the Great Temple of Atrebis in Sohag.
Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, emphasized the importance of this discovery. It marks the first step in revealing more elements of the new temple at the site. He noted that the width of the revealed structure is 51 meters, divided into two towers, each measuring 24 meters wide, separated by an entrance gate.
The angle of the towers suggests that the original height of the structure might have been 18 meters, similar to the size of the Luxor Temple in Luxor. Dr. Khaled confirmed that the mission will continue its work at the site to fully uncover the temple during upcoming excavation seasons. The Supreme Council of Antiquities will provide complete support for the mission, following the directives of Mr. Sherif Fathy, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, to remove any obstacles for archaeological missions.
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| Ptolemaic Temple in Sohag |
Mr. Mohamed Abdel Badi, the head of the Upper Egypt Antiquities Administration and the Egyptian side of the mission, stated that while cleaning the main gate of the structure, hieroglyphic texts were found decorating the outer façade and the inner walls. There are also carvings showing the king greeting the goddess "Rabit," who is represented with a female lion's head, along with her son, the child god "Koulentis."
Mr. Abdel Badi added that by studying the discovered cartouches at the entrance and on one of the inner sides, it was found that this gate dates back to the reign of King Ptolemy VIII, who may have been the temple's founder. It is also likely that there is a cartouche with the name of his wife, Queen Cleopatra III, among the texts.
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Dr. Christian Leitz, the head of the German side of the mission, explained that the team was able to uncover the southern room, part of which was revealed during an English archaeological mission led by the scholar Petrie in 1907-1908. The sides of its entrance are decorated with hieroglyphic texts and scenes showing the goddess "Rabit" and the fertility god "Min" surrounded by figures of secondary celestial deities symbolizing stars to measure the hours of the night.
Dr. Markus Müller, the excavation site manager from the German side, added that the mission also uncovered a staircase leading to a previously unknown room, accessible through a small entrance located in the outer façade of the structure. The four steps of the staircase indicate that it led to an upper level that was destroyed long ago in 752 AD.
It is worth noting that the joint Egyptian-German mission has been working in the Atrebis area for over ten years, resulting in the complete uncovering of all parts of the Great Temple of Atrebis, along with more than 30,000 ostraca containing Demotic, Coptic, and Hieratic texts, as well as many archaeological finds.