Five Unpublished Blocks of Ancient Egypt from Old Cairo

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Inspector of Mataria and Ain-Shams District - Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt

2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University, Egypt

Abstract

Five inscribed stone blocks from ancient Egypt were discovered inside some buildings in Old Cairo. These blocks are inscribed with the cartouches and titles of King Sobekhotep IV, Thutmose III, Ramses IX, and Ptolemy V. Some blocks are kept in the Open Panorama near Al-Nasr Gate, such as two blocks of King Thutmose III and Ptolemy V, while other blocks are still reused in the old buildings such as the three blocks of King Sobekhotep IV and Ramses IX. The paper studies the five blocks in the context of reusing the ruins of ancient Egyptian constructions during the Medieval Era. The studied blocks have been destroyed over the centuries. To save effort, money and time, builders of the Mediaeval Era reused the remains of some ancient monuments to reconstruct their new buildings. There is no indication of a re-inscription of these blocks in ancient times, suggesting they were brought directly to Old Cairo from their original site. Heliopolis had extensive ruins, which could be easily transported because there were no natural obstructions between Heliopolis and Old Cairo, especially those smaller objects such as these blocks. For many years, the proposed source of these blocks was the ruins of the great temple of the deity Re-Horakhty in Heliopolis. The inscriptions provide essential information about those kings' architectural activities and their attention to Heliopolis throughout the ancient Egyptian periods.

Keywords

References

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