11 February 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists Found an Egyptian Temple Slotted into a Cliff Face, Probably Dedicated to a Lion-Headed Goddess Repit

Archaeologists have uncovered a hidden gateway leading to a 2,100-year-old temple built into a cliff face at the ancient city of Athribis, about 125 miles north of Luxor.

Recent archaeological findings suggest that the cliffs of Athribis may conceal a former sanctuary. Researchers have discovered a temple entrance that supports this theory. The structure known as the pylon features two towers flanking a central entrance.

The team also discovered a second door on the pylon, which leads to a hidden staircase that once featured at least four different flights. These flights led to an upper floor that has since been destroyed.

According to project leader Professor Christian Leitz and excavation manager Marcus Müller from the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations (IANES) at the University of Tübingen, the entrance to a temple in the rock is suspected to be under the still untouched piles of rubble behind it.

Excavations in this area have been ongoing since 2012 with the aim of revealing an ancient temple district constructed between 144 B.C. and 138 C.E.

The south tower of the pylon and the hill behind it, where a sanctuary is believed to be located. Credit: Marcus Müller, Athribis Project
The south tower of the pylon and the hill behind it, where a sanctuary is believed to be located. Credit: Marcus Müller, Athribis Project

In the northern tower and at the entrance gate, where excavations have been conducted in recent months, the team discovered reliefs depicting a king presenting sacrifices to the lion-headed goddess Repit and her son Kolanthes. Recent hieroglyphic inscriptions reveal for the first time that King, Ptolemy VIII of the second century BCE, was in charge of the pylon’s construction and decoration.

The complex measured 51 meters in width in total, with the towers of the imposing temple entrance standing 18 meters tall each. There are now only about five meters left. The others were quarry victims. Thanks to a coin that was dropped, this removal of stone can be dated to 752 or soon after.

In the north tower of the pylon, the team unexpectedly came across a previously unknown chamber. They cleared away a ceiling block weighing around 20 tons using an air cushion, wooden scaffolding and rollers. They uncovered the chamber, which is around six meters long and almost three meters wide. It was a storage room for temple utensils and was later used to store amphorae.


View of the northern tower of the pylon. Credit: Marcus Müller, Athribis Project
View of the northern tower of the pylon. Credit: Marcus Müller, Athribis Project

A corridor leads through the pylon to the chamber, so that it was also accessible from the outside. This entrance is also decorated with reliefs and hieroglyphs: Once again, the goddess Repit can be seen, while the door frame opposite shows the fertility god Min, who is accompanied by two very rarely depicted beings – decans (stars that enable time to be measured at night) with the heads of a falcon and an ibis respectively.

Unique in Egyptian temple architecture is a second door on the façade of the pylon, which leads to a previously unknown staircase that led in at least four flights to the upper floor, which has now been destroyed, and where further storage rooms can be reconstructed.

“Finely smoothed limestone blocks on a vertically cut rock façade could belong to a rock sanctuary,” says Christian Leitz. The more than four-meter-high find and decorations typical of the upper end of a temple – such as a cobra frieze – indicate that there could be a door behind it.

A very rare depiction: a decan (a star that enables time to be measured at night) with a falcon's head. Credit: Marcus Müller, Athribis Project
A very rare depiction: a decan (a star that enables time to be measured at night) with a falcon’s head. Credit: Marcus Müller, Athribis Project

Further excavations will now focus on finding traces of the presumed temple behind the pylon. The German Research Foundation funds the excavation project on the pylon temple of Athribis.

University of Tübingen

Further information: The Athribis Project

Cover Image Credit: The north tower of the temple with the newly discovered chamber. Credit: Marcus Müller, Athribis Project

Related Articles

Fossils of sea creatures 35 million years old discovered in eastern Turkey

17 August 2021

17 August 2021

In Turkey’s eastern province of Mus, a team of researchers discovered fossils of sea creatures estimated to be 35 million...

Ancient winery site uncovered in China’s Hebei

5 January 2022

5 January 2022

In northern China’s Hebei region, an ancient winery going back 400 years to the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties...

A Child’s Skeleton was Unearthed During the Tozkoparan Mound Excavations

12 August 2021

12 August 2021

The skeleton of a child was unearthed during the rescue excavations carried out in the Tozkoparan mound located in Tozkoparan...

A large stone monument depicting the goddess Ishtar has been unearthed in the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud

26 June 2023

26 June 2023

Archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, working with an Iraqi excavation team, have unearthed a...

Apocalypse Ship of the Vikings

26 April 2021

26 April 2021

Researchers discovered a stone boat made by Vikings and surprising gifts inside a cave in Iceland. Aside from the cave,...

One of the Oldest Tin-Bronze Knife in the Eurasian Steppe Discovered in a Unique Bronze Age Cemetery in Uygur ­Autonomous Region

29 January 2025

29 January 2025

Chinese archaeologists have recently uncovered a large and uniquely structured cemetery dating back to 2800-2600 BC, located about two kilometers...

2000-year-old Genuine Pompeii marble relief installed in a wall lining the staircase leading down to the basement in a Belgium home

22 December 2023

22 December 2023

An important marble relief depicting the earthquake of 62 AD, stolen from the ruins of ancient Pompeii in Italy in...

Native American artifacts from 1100 AD found in North America’s First City

20 June 2024

20 June 2024

Cahokia is the largest and most significant urban settlement of the Mississippian culture, known for creating massive earthen platform mounds...

Denisovans or Homo Sapiens: Who Were the First to Settle Permanently on the Tibetan Plateau?

8 December 2021

8 December 2021

The Tibetan Plateau has long been considered one of the last places to be populated by people in their migration...

Army Museum Worker Discovers Early Medieval Sword While Swimming in a Polish River

19 December 2024

19 December 2024

The collection of the Army Museum in Białystok, Poland has been enriched after renovation with a unique relic of great...

“If this site (Sharda temple)is restored and conserved, it will attract thousands of Hindus and Buddhists from Kashmir and the rest of the world”

7 August 2021

7 August 2021

Sharda Peeth, a historic learning institution located 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital and largest city of Pakistan-administered...

Military veterans uncovered ‘richest grave this year’ on final dig at Anglo-Saxon Cemetery

19 July 2023

19 July 2023

During excavations at an Anglo-Saxon cemetery on military training lands on Salisbury Plain, military veterans have unearthed the richest tomb...

A Monument complex and inscription belonging to Ilteris Kutlug Kagan, the founder of the Eastern Göktürk Khanate, were found

24 August 2022

24 August 2022

A Turkish inscription of İlteriş Kutlug Kağan was found during the joint scientific archaeological expedition of the International Turkic Academy...

DNA Analysis Reveals Identifies the Genetic Makeup of Piceni the Most Fascinating Civilizations of Pre-Roman Italy

24 November 2024

24 November 2024

A study conducted by an international team coordinated by Sapienza University of Rome and the Italian National Research Council (CNR)...

Rare discovery: Ancient Egyptian burial reveals Ovarian Teeth in Oldest Example of Teratoma

13 November 2023

13 November 2023

Archaeologists have unearthed the oldest documented example of a teratoma discovered within the 3,000-year-old burial chamber of a young woman...