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Temple ruins discovered beneath Cairo market
An ancient solar temple has been discovered beneath a flea market in a Cairo suburb, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities announced.
An ancient solar temple has been discovered beneath a flea market in a Cairo suburb, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities announced.
The temple was found on Thursday embedded in green shist rock beneath the market, said Zahi Hawass, the council's secretary general, on Sunday.
Royal statues in pink-coloured granite, probably from the time of Ramses II (13th century BC) and weighing five tonnes, were found in the temple and are now in the custody of the Council of Antiquities, Hawass added.
A statue, 1.5 metres in height, of the pharaoh sitting down and a three-tonne royal bust in pink granite were also discovered, the antiquities chief said.
The suburb of Ein Shams (eye of the sun) was built on top of the ancient city of Heliopolis, meaning city of the sun in Greek, and was famed for its theology and philosophy schools.
