Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered a preserved Byzantine-era city in the western desert, revealing homes, churches, coins and tools that officials say show how people lived and worked when Egypt was part of the Byzantine empire.
The fourth-century settlement was found in the Dakhla oasis in what is now New Valley governorate. Egypt’s tourism and antiquities ministry said the site includes residential and religious buildings, including a basilica-style church, along with pottery fragments, tools and coins.
Hisham el-Leithy, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the quarters were laid out with north-south streets crossing east-west routes, creating open squares and public spaces.
Mahmoud Massoud, who chairs the archaeological mission, said a basilica dating to the mid-fourth century stood at the head of the settlement, overlooking the main streets. The team also found two watchtowers, defensive walls and homes with reception halls and vaulted roofs.
Among the finds were bread ovens, kitchens, stone grinding tools and bronze coins carrying portraits of Byzantine emperors, Latin inscriptions and Christian symbols. The ministry also said gold coins from the reign of Roman emperor Constantius II, who ruled from 337 to 361, were unearthed.
Diaa Zahran, head of the Islamic, Coptic and Jewish antiquities department, said about 200 pottery fragments known as ostraca were found with inscriptions linked to commercial transactions, correspondence and daily life.
In a separate discovery, archaeologists found 18 ancient tombs at Marina el-Alamein, west of Alexandria. The mission found rock-cut tombs, limestone-built tombs, pottery vessels, lamps, altars, a granite sarcophagus and remains of a plaster sphinx statue.
Eman Abdel-Khaliq, the mission chief at Marina el-Alamein, said four gold pieces were found inside the mouths of some of the deceased, a funerary practice known as “the golden tongue”.
