28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists discover a well-planned new urban precinct in the Egyptian settlement of Marea

Archaeologists excavating the ancient port settlement and cemetery of Marea in Egypt have revealed that a significant part of the site was a large-scale well-planned urban enterprise established in the second half of the sixth century AD. In late antiquity, such newly designed urban sites were exceedingly rare.

Marea is located on the southern coast of Lake Mareotis in northern Egypt, some 40 kilometers southwest of Alexandria and 17 kilometers north.

Archaeologists from Egypt, the United States, France, and Poland have been excavating at this site since the late 1970s. Since 2017, the University of Warsaw has been conducting a non-invasive survey of the entire site, along with archaeological probing in selected sections, in order to maximize the potential of this site.

Marea
Marea is located on the southern coast of Lake Mareotis in northern Egypt, some 40 kilometers southwest of Alexandria and 17 kilometers north. Source: The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw

The study revealed a detailed plan for a one-story “modular” building from the 6th to 8th centuries AD, built on the ruins of a Roman farm producing wine, covering an area of ​​13 hectares. This area may be neatly lined with shops and houses, as well as buildings used by pilgrims who went to the Christian shrine of Abu Mena in the 6th century.

Levelling layers under buildings W1-B, W1-A and St2. The white dotted line marks the top of the levelling layers (photographs by Mariusz Gwiazda)
Leveling layers under buildings W1-B, W1-A, and St2. The white dotted line marks the top of the leveling layers (photographs by Mariusz Gwiazda)

The first building boom in the area occurred during the Hellenistic period, and the Romans later conquered it. In the Islamic period, the number of urbanized settlements meant that there was no need to build more population centers. Dr. Mariusz Gwiazda of PCMA said: “It was a big surprise for us because around this period there were no new cities built in Egypt”.

A set of ostraca (pottery with writing on the surface) records the records of workshops engaged in restoration activities between the 6th and 7th centuries AD, which also provides very important information about the operation of the settlement. They proved that, among other things, there existed a nosokomeion or hospital, a building that became common in the Byzantine period. The existence of such a building, together with two baths and toilets,  indicates the care taken by the town’s planners over the health of the residents.

The Polish National Science Centre (grant 2017/25/B/HS3/01841) financed this project.

Find out more

Related Articles

Unique Iron & Viking-Age Mortuary Houses Found in Norway

28 August 2024

28 August 2024

While building a road in the village of Vinjeøra in central Norway, three ancient mortuary houses dating back to the...

4,500-Year-Old Three Warrior Graves Found in Germany, One Still Wearing an Arm Guard

30 January 2025

30 January 2025

Extraordinary discovery during the construction of a New Power Line: Archaeologists unearth a cemetery from the Copper Age with Three...

In French Necropolis 21 Roman “curse tablets” discovered including one written in the extinct Celtic language of Gaulish

18 January 2025

18 January 2025

During the excavation of an eighteenth-century hospital in north-western France by researchers from the Orléans Archaeological Service, a 2,000-year-old necropolis...

Mass graves of Crusaders killed in the 13th century have been discovered in Lebanon

17 September 2021

17 September 2021

From 1096 to 1291, waves of Europeans took up arms and marched into the Middle East. They hope to “take...

The first and largest astronomical observatory of the 6th century BC discovered in Egypt’s Kafr El-Sheikh

24 August 2024

24 August 2024

Archaeologists in Egypt unveiled the first and largest astronomical observatory from the 6th century BCE in the Buto Temple at...

Archaeologists Uncovered a Tile Workshop From the First Century in Corsica

3 December 2024

3 December 2024

Archaeologists from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) excavations on the east coast of Corsica have uncovered...

At a dig site in western Turkey, a centuries-old Byzantine fortress will be revealed

24 December 2021

24 December 2021

Excavation of vast Byzantine-era fortifications considered to be about 900 years old has begun at a dig site in western...

The ruins of a temple dedicated to Goddess Kubaba found for the first time in ancient city of Kastabala, southern Türkiye

17 December 2023

17 December 2023

Ruins of a temple belonging to the goddess Kubaba were found in the Ancient City of Kastabala. The ancient city...

16th-Century Shipwreck Discovered at Record Depth Off French Mediterranean Coast

12 June 2025

12 June 2025

The deepest shipwreck ever documented in French territorial waters has been found over 2,500 meters below the surface. In a...

New discoveries show that Claros continued to serve as an oracle center after Christianity

14 September 2022

14 September 2022

Game boards and forked cross motifs dating to the fifth and seventh centuries AD were discovered at the ancient Greek...

Hannibal’s Italian Ally: 170 Meters of Fortifications and 450 Roman Lead Projectiles Discovered

20 June 2025

20 June 2025

Archaeologists in Ugento, a city in southern Italy that once sided with Hannibal during the Second Punic War, have uncovered...

Sacred Hill of Moon God Sin “Sogmatar”

23 June 2022

23 June 2022

Sogmatar, Şanlıurfa is 53 kilometers from Harran. It is located in Yağmurlu village, where there are important springs in the...

Rock tombs dating back 1,800 years have been discovered in Turkey’s ancient city of Blaundus

1 October 2021

1 October 2021

In the ancient city of Blaundus, located in the Ulubey neighborhood of the western Anatolian city of Uşak, 400 rock-cut...

A tiny 2,300-year-old votive vessel presented to the gods by the poor was found in the Ancient City of Troy

27 August 2022

27 August 2022

A 3-centimeter in size tiny vessel made of clay was found in the ancient city of Troy located at Hisarlik...

Archeologists in Peru find a 1,000-year-old adolescent mummy wrapped in bundle

25 April 2023

25 April 2023

Archaeologists have unearthed a more than 1,000-year-old mummy on the outskirts of Peru’s capital, Lima. The mummified adolescent was wrapped...