Category Archives: AFRICA

AFRICA, WORLD

DNA from child burials reveals ‘profoundly different’ human landscape in ancient Africa

DNA from child burials reveals ‘profoundly different’ human landscape in ancient Africa

Central Africa is too hot and humid for ancient DNA to survive—or so researchers thought. But now the bones of four children buried thousands of years ago in a rock shelter in the grasslands of Cameroon have yielded enough DNA for scientists to analyze.

It’s the first ancient DNA from humans in the region, and as the team reports today in Nature, it holds multiple surprises. For one, the area today is the homeland of Bantu speakers, the majority group in western and Central Africa.

But the children turned out to be most closely related to hunter-gatherers such as the Baka and Aka—groups traditionally known as “pygmies”—who today live at least 500 kilometres away in the rainforests of western Central Africa.

DNA from child burials reveals ‘profoundly different' human landscape in ancient Africa
People like these Baka hunter-gatherers once ranged well beyond their current homeland in Central Africa.

“In the supposed cradle of Bantu languages and, therefore, Bantu people, these people are basically ‘pygmy’ hunter-gatherers,” says Lluís Quintana-Murci, a population geneticist at the Pasteur Institute and CNRS, the French national research agency, who was not part of the new study.

He and others have long suspected that these groups had a larger range before the Bantu population exploded 3000 years ago.

The second big surprise came when the team compared the children’s DNA to other genetic data from Africa and found hints that the Baka, Aka, and other Central African hunter-gatherers belong to one of the most ancient lineages of modern humans, with roots going back 250,000 years.

In the new study, geneticists and archaeologists took samples from the DNA-rich inner ear bones of the four children, who were buried 3000 and 8000 years ago at the famous archaeological site of Shum Laka.

The researchers were able to sequence high-quality full genomes from two of the children and partial genomes from the other two.

Comparing the sequences to those of living Africans, they found that the four children were distant cousins and that all had inherited about one-third of their DNA from ancestors most closely related to the hunter-gatherers of western Central Africa.

Another two-thirds of children’s DNA came from an ancient “basal” source in West Africa, including some from a “long lost ghost population of modern humans that we didn’t know about before,” says population geneticist David Reich of Harvard University, leader of the study.

The discovery underscores the diversity of African groups that inhabited the continent before the Bantus began to herd livestock in the grassy highlands of western Central Africa.

The Bantus made pottery and forged iron, and their burgeoning populations rapidly displaced hunter-gatherers across Africa. Analyzing DNA from a time before this expansion offers “a glimpse of a human landscape that is profoundly different than today,” Reich says.

The team compared the children’s DNA to ancient DNA extracted earlier from a 4500-year-old individual from Mota Cave in Ethiopia and sequences from other ancient and living Africans, using various statistical methods to sort out how they all were related, which groups came first, and when they split from one another.

The team’s bold new model pushes back Central African hunter-gatherer origins to 200,000 to 250,000 years ago—not long after our species evolved.

The model suggests their lineage split from three other modern human lineages: one leading to the Khoisan hunter-gatherers in southern Africa, one to East Africans, and one to a now-extinct “ghost” population.

Early diversification of modern humans fits the great variation seen in fossils of early Homo sapiens, says paleoanthropologist Katerina Harvati of the University of Tübingen, who is not part of this study.

The lineages would have parted company and moved off into different parts of Africa 200,000 to 250,000 years ago, preserving their distinctness by only occasionally interbreeding at the boundaries.

But others say that although the new study offers compelling new evidence, the data aren’t yet solid enough to build a reliable model.

“It needs to be further tested with additional whole-genome data from both modern and, if possible, ancient DNA from more Africans,” says evolutionary geneticist Sarah Tishkoff of the University of Pennsylvania.

That may be possible. A third key lesson from the study is that ancient DNA can be extracted from bones in Central Africa after all. “The future is not as bleak for ancient DNA in these regions,” says population geneticist Joshua Akey of Princeton University.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Egypt breakthrough: How lost Tutankhamun artefact was found after ‘vanishing for decades’

Egypt breakthrough: How lost Tutankhamun artefact was found after ‘vanishing for decades’

Tutankhamun was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule at the end of the 19th Dynasty during the New Kingdom. Known as “the boy king,” he inherited the throne at just nine years old and mysteriously died less than a decade later, with his burial rushed and his legacy seemingly wiped, leading many to claim he was murdered. In 1922, Howard Carter discovered KV62 in the Valley of the Kings, jam-packed with the most luxurious collection of artefacts, along with Tutankhamun’s body.

Now, almost a century later, an item that was thought to have been lost or stolen has reemerged thanks to the construction of a new museum, Channel 5’s “Secrets of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings” revealed.

The narrator said in March: “300 miles north of the valley in Giza, in the shadow of the pyramids, the magnificent treasures found in Tutankhamun’s tomb are getting a new home.

“British archaeologist Howard Carter found over 5,000 artefacts and set the standard for modern archaeology by spending years meticulously cataloguing them.

“However, the huge collection ended up scattered in locations across Egypt. 

Egypt breakthrough: How lost Tutankhamun artefact was found after 'vanishing for decades'
The artefact was buried with Tutankhamun
The team were packing up boxes to move to the new museum

“This £700million museum and research centre will reunite the collection for the first tie in a century.

“Now, in the new museum’s labs, scientists and Egyptologists use modern technology to study and analyse each artefact.”

The series went on to describe how one of Mr Carter’s original boxes was uncovered.

It added: “But some of Tut’s greatest treasures are yet to arrive.

“300 miles south in Luxor, Eissa Zidan is preparing 122 of Tut’s artefacts for their move to Giza.

The archaeologists uncovered a box

“But a few hours into the packing, Eissa gets some unexpected news. 

“During the move, the team have unearthed one of the original boxes Howard Carter used to transport Tut’s treasures out of the tomb.

“It was hidden in the corner of a storeroom and it’s been lost for decades.”

Inside the box, archaeologists found an amazing piece of history. The narrator explained: “These delicate wooden pieces are ancient boat parts and belong to one of the model boats that Howard Carter found in Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Inside was a model boat
What Howard Carter saw when he opened KV62

“The idea of eternal life was essential to ancient Egyptians as it is to major religions today.

“They believed the deceased would begin the journey by boat, so model boats were precious grave goods.

“The vessels often came complete with crew, because it was believed the replicas would come to life and help with fishing and transport in the afterlife.”

The afterlife was essential to ancient Egyptians and the goods they were buried with were said to be a key part of the journey.

The series continued: “The pharaohs used a special vessel to sail across the sky for eternity. 

“Ordinary people also thought they could reach the afterlife by boat, rowing up the Nile on these models and into the next world.

“Records show that the box was sent to Luxor in 1973, but had gone missing, presumed lost or stolen.

“The mast and the boat must have become separated decades ago.”

The discovery came before the opening of the new exhibition in London: “Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh.” More than 150 artefacts have travelled from Egypt to the Saatchi Gallery and will be on display now until May 3, 2020.  

For the first time ever, 60 items have left the country, before they return to their permanent home in the new Grand Egyptian Museum next year.   Recently closed in Paris, the exhibition became France’s most visited of all time with an attendance of over 1.4 million.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Ancient papyrus holds the world’s oldest guide to mummification

Ancient papyrus holds the world’s oldest guide to mummification

The oldest known instructions for the ancient art of embalming mummies were recently discovered on a medical papyrus from ancient Egypt. How-to descriptions of the mummification process are exceptionally rare in the archaeological record — only two other such “manuals” are known.

Ancient papyrus holds the world’s oldest guide to mummification
Section of the papyrus deals with swellings of the skin.

This newest example, found in an ancient scroll dating to around 1450 B.C., predates other mummification texts by more than 1,000 years. The guide contains many helpful suggestions, such as how to make herbal insect repellent and using red linen wrappings to reduce facial swelling.

Sofie Schiødt, a research assistant in the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen, discovered the embalming manual while translating a papyrus for her doctoral thesis, which will be published in 2022, university representatives said in a statement.

Half of the papyrus scroll is in the university’s Papyrus Carlsberg Collection, and the other half is in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Prior to that, each piece was privately owned, and they were acquired by the university and the Louvre in 2015 and 2006, respectively, Schiødt told Live Science in an email. It wasn’t until 2018 that experts learned that the two pieces were part of the same scroll.

In its entirety, the papyrus measures nearly 20 feet (6 meters) long and is inscribed on both sides. It is the second-longest medical papyrus from ancient Egypt, and Schiødt’s translation project relies mostly on high-resolution photographs of the precious artefact.

“This way we can move displaced fragments around digitally, as well as enhance colours to better read passages where the ink is not so well-preserved,” Schiødt said. “It also aids in reading difficult signs when you can zoom in on the high-res photos.”

The papyrus contains new evidence of the procedure for embalming the deceased’s face, where the face is covered with a piece of red linen and aromatic substances.

Succinct recipes

There are five sections in the medical papyrus. The first is short medical recipes, followed by a section on herbs. Next is a long section on skin diseases, followed by the embalming manual, “and finally another section of succinct medical recipes,” Schiødt said. 

Only a small portion of the papyrus — just three columns of text — covers embalming. Though the mummification section is brief, it’s packed with details, many of which were absent from later embalming texts. 

“Several recipes are included in the manual describing the manufacturing of various aromatic unguents,” Schiødt told Live Science, referring to substances used as ointments.

However, some parts of the embalming process, such as drying the corpse with natron — a desiccating compound made of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate (salt and baking soda) — aren’t described at length. 

“As such, the text reads mostly as a memory aid, helping the embalmer remember the most intricate parts of the embalming process,” she said.

According to the manual, embalming a person took 70 days, and the task was performed in a special workshop near the person’s grave. The two main stages — drying and wrapping — each lasted 35 days. 

Schiødt said that one of the exciting new pieces of information from the text involves a procedure for embalming a dead person’s face.

The instructions include a recipe that combines plant-based aromatics and binders, cooking them into a liquid “with which the embalmers coat a piece of red linen,” she said. 

“The red linen is then applied to the dead person’s face in order to encase it in a protective cocoon of fragrant and anti-bacterial matter,” and this was repeated every four days, according to the study. On days when the embalmers were not actively treating the body, they covered it with straw infused with aromatic oils “in order to keep insects and scavengers away,” according to Schiødt.

Work on the mummy typically wrapped up by day 68, “after which the final days were spent on ritual activities allowing the deceased to live on in the afterlife,” Schiødt wrote.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Huge cemetery with at least 250 rock-cut tombs discovered in Egypt

Huge cemetery with at least 250 rock-cut tombs discovered in Egypt

About 250 tombs, some with fancy layouts and hieroglyphics, have been discovered cut into a hill at Al-Hamidiyah cemetery to the east of Sohag, in Egypt’s the Eastern Desert, about 240 miles (386 kilometres) southeast of Cairo, Egypt’s antiquities ministry said.

Huge cemetery with at least 250 rock-cut tombs discovered in Egypt
About 250 tombs have been found cut into the sides of a hill in Egypt’s the Eastern Desert. They date between roughly 4,200 and 2,100 years ago.

The tombs were constructed at different times in Egypt’s history, the archaeologists said in a statement from the ministry.

The earliest were constructed about 4,200 years ago, at a time when Egypt’s “Old Kingdom,” as modern-day Egyptologists call it, was collapsing.

At this time, the pharaohs of Egypt were losing control of the country, as a number of local governors gained power. Why these tombs were cut into the hill is not clear but it was not an uncommon practice in ancient Egypt. 

The tombs in the cemetery that date to the end of the Old Kingdom tended to have a more elaborate architecture that included an entrance corridor leading down to a gallery with a burial room located in the southeast part of the structure.

The archaeologists also found pieces of limestone with hieroglyphic inscriptions in some of these tombs; they also discovered what may be the remains of plates that were placed as funerary offerings to tomb owners, the ministry said in the statement. 

Animal remains, including these horns, were found inside some of the tombs.
In some of the tombs dating back 4,200 years, archaeologists found limestone pieces that have hieroglyphic writing on them. They may have been part of plates that were used as offerings to tomb owners.
The rock-cut tombs have different architectural layouts. Shown here, is the interior of one of those tombs.
Painted spherical vessels were found in some of the tombs. They may have been used to store liquids.

In one tomb that dated to the end of the Old Kingdom, archaeologists found paintings that depict the tomb owner slaughtering animal sacrifices, and people making offerings for the deceased, Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in the statement. 

The latest of the tombs found in the cemetery date to almost 2,100 years ago, the end of what modern-day scholars call the “Ptolemaic Period.”

At this time, pharaohs descended from Ptolemy I, who was one of Alexander the Great’s generals, ruled Egypt.

Roman power in the region was growing around 2,100 years ago, and in 30 B.C., after Cleopatra VII died by suicide, Egypt became a Roman province.

The team discovered numerous artefacts inside the tombs, including cups, jars and plates — some of which were full-sized examples that may have been used in daily life, and others that were miniature vessels possibly used as symbolic offerings for the deceased, the ministry said in the statement.

The tombs also contained painted spherical vessels that could have been used to store liquids. What was left of a round metal mirror was found in one tomb, and many of the tombs held both animal and human remains.

Research at the site is ongoing and more tombs may be found in the future, Waziri said.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

A 5,000-year-old wooden boat used by the pharaohs is discovered by French archaeologists

A 5,000-year-old wooden boat used by the pharaohs is discovered by French archaeologists

French archaeologists have discovered a 5,000-year-old wooden boat in an expedition in Egypt, it has emerged. The significant discovery was made in Abu Rawash, west of Cairo, the antiquities ministry in Egypt said.

Mohammed Ibrahim, the antiquities minister, said: ‘It goes back to the era of Pharaoh Den, one of the First Dynasty kings’.

The six-metre long and 1.5-metre wide pharaonic solar boat ‘is in good condition,’ he added.

A 5,000-year-old wooden boat used by the pharaohs is discovered by French archaeologists
Discovery: French archaeologists have discovered a 5,000-year-old pharaonic solar boat in an expedition in Egypt, it has emerged

Its planks are now undergoing renovation before it is put on display in a museum.

The pharaohs believed that solar boats, buried close to them at death, would transport them in the afterlife.

According to Middle East Online, the boat’s wooden sheets were transported to the planned  National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation where they will be restored. 

Once the museum is finished, it is expected they will be put on display at some point next year.

The group of French archaeologists were working for the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology (IFAO).

Significant: The discovery was made in Abu Rawash, west of Cairo
Stunning: An archaeologist is seen working on the skeleton of the newly discovered wooden boat. The pharaohs believed that solar boats, buried close to them at death, would transport them to the afterlife

The group first started its excavation work in Abu Rawash in the early 1900s.

In 1954 an Egyptian archaeologist discovered what may be the Pharaoh Khufu’s 43-metre solar ship, made of cedar, in a Giza pyramid.

The 4,500-year-old intact vessel is on display near the pyramid.

It is one of the oldest, largest, and best-preserved vessels from antiquity and has been identified as the world’s oldest intact ship.

It is known as a ‘solar barge’, a ritual vessel to carry the resurrected king with the sun god Ra across the heavens.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Experts claim material from Tutankhamun’s dagger may have come from outer space

Experts claim material from Tutankhamun’s dagger may have come from outer space

A gold-hilted dagger found in the tomb of King Tut surprised archaeologists when they discovered that it was made of a material forged in outer space. Now, two new studies are painting conflicting pictures of the origins of the mysterious weapon, which may have been wielded by arguably the most famous ancient Egyptian pharaoh.

A dagger made from meteors was found in the tomb of King Tut.

One of those studies on the dagger, made of iron from meteors, suggests it was manufactured in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), while the other study indicates its Earthly origins are still a mystery. 

At the time King Tutankhamun reigned (1333 B.C. to 1323 B.C.), iron smelting had not been invented yet, meaning the metal was a rare and precious commodity that often came from meteors.

In one of the new studies, published Feb. 11 in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science, researchers describe how an adhesive used on the dagger’s gold hilt was likely made of lime plaster, a material that was used in Anatolia at the time Tutankhamun reigned. This lime plaster, however, was not widely used in Egypt at that time, the researchers wrote. 

Additionally, historical records found at the site of Amarna, in Egypt, show that Tushratta, the king of Mitanni in Anatolia, gifted at least one iron dagger to Amenhotep III (who reigned from about 1390 B.C. to 1352 B.C.), the grandfather of Tutankhamun, the researchers noted. 

The team also found that the “iron blade was made by low-temperature heat forging at less than 950 °C [1,742 degrees Fahrenheit],” since a mineral called troilite and formations of iron-nickel crystals known as “widmanstätten patterns” could be seen on the dagger, the researchers wrote in the journal article. 

This image shows results from the chemical analysis of both sides of the dagger’s blade.

A different viewpoint

However, in another study, published in the book “Iron from Tutankhamun’s Tomb” (American University in Cairo Press, 2022), researchers found that “it is currently impossible to arrive at a reliable conclusion as to the origin of Tutankhamun’s iron objects or the craftsmen and materials involved,” the research team wrote. 

Those study authors noted that the “rock crystal” of the blade’s pommel is similar to artefacts widely used in the Aegean area, while the pommel’s “typically Egyptian shape suggests either manufacture in Egypt or foreign production for an Egyptian market,” the research team wrote. “As a result, no clear overall picture on the origin of the dagger’s handle and blade” can be made. 

Scholars react

Live Science contacted several scholars not affiliated with either study to get their reactions.

Albert Jambon, a researcher at Sorbonne University in France who has conducted extensive research on artefacts made of meteor iron, was unconvinced by the findings that placed the manufacture of the dagger in Anatolia. 

Jambon disputed the claim that the lime plaster was used as an adhesive. He noted that in the 1920s, limestone powder was used for the cleaning of some Tutankhamun artefacts and that the chemical tests used in the study detected this cleaning solution, not an adhesive.

Additionally, “the hilt and the blade are two separate parts” and could have been manufactured in different places, Jambon said in an email. 

Marian Feldman, W.H. Collins Vickers chair in archaeology at Johns Hopkins University, said that if the team’s findings that the dagger was manufactured in Anatolia are correct, it “would be important confirmation that some of the luxurious objects found in Tutankhamen’s tomb were diplomatic gifts from abroad,” Feldman wrote in an email. More research is needed to confirm those findings, Feldman added. 

AFRICA, SUDAN, WORLD

35 Ancient Pyramids Discovered in Sudan Necropolis

35 Ancient Pyramids Discovered in Sudan Necropolis

Archaeologists excavating a site in Sudan have discovered 35 pyramids revealing fascinating links between the bygone Kingdom of Kush that once existed there and ancient Egypt.

The pyramids, which date back around 2,000 years, are smaller than most Egyptian examples with the largest being 22 feet in width and the smallest, likely constructed for the burial of a child, being just 30 inches.

The site in Sedeinga, northern Sudan, was part of the ancient kingdom of Kush which shared a border with Egypt and, later on, the Roman Empire.

Discovery: The skeleton of a child buried with necklaces around its neck was unearthed amid a complex of 35 pyramids discovered in Sudan
Some of the pyramids were discovered in the dig in Sedeinga in northern Sudan. Unusually some had a circle built inside them with cross-braces connecting the circle to the corners of the pyramid
Treasures: An amulet of the Egyptian god Bes who was often associated with children and pregnant mothers (left) and archaeologist Vincent Francigny shows with a steal, a stone slab used to keep records (right)

One factor that has surprised the team was how densely concentrated the pyramids were. In a single area of 5,381 square feet, roughly the size of a basketball court, they found 13 pyramids.

Sadly the condition of the pyramids has suffered from the presence of a camel caravan route and the long passage of time and none of the top sections remains intact.

Capstones, depicting either a bird or a lotus flower on top of a solar orb, have originally been placed at the top of the pyramids. Graves were discovered beside the pyramids in tomb chambers which were often found to have held more than one body.

Packed: One feature that surprised the team was how densely concentrated the pyramids were. In a single area of 5,381 square feet, roughly the size of a basketball court, they found 13 pyramids
Treasures: An offering table discovered at the site inscribed with ancient Meroitic writing (left) and a capstone which would have sat on the top of a pyramid-shaped like a lotus flower above a solar orb (right)

Sadly these graves had all been plundered, possibly many hundreds of years ago, however, the archaeologists did find skeletal remains and some artefacts. The archaeological team believes the building of pyramids at Sedeinga continued for centuries and was strongly influenced by Egyptian funerary architecture.

Vincent Francigny, a research associate with the American Museum of Natural History in New York, told LiveScience: ‘The density of the pyramids is huge.

‘Because it lasted for hundreds of years they built more, more, more pyramids and after centuries they started to fill all the spaces that were still available in the necropolis.

‘They reached a point where it was so filled with people and graves that they had to reuse the oldest one.’

Some of the pyramids were found to have been built with cross-braces connecting the corners to an inner circle. Interestingly only one pyramid outside of Sedeinga is known to have been built in this way.

Mr Francigny believes that when pyramid building came into fashion at Sedeinga it could have been combined with a local circle-building tradition called tumulus construction, resulting in pyramids with circles within them.

He added: ‘What we found this year is very intriguing. A grave of a child and it was covered by only a kind of circle, almost complete, of brick.’

A copper-alloy bowl was found in the tomb holding this skeleton (left).Sedeinga, in Sudan, sits near the River Nile which flows up into Egypt (right)
One tomb held over 1,500 beads as well as Nile spiral shells which appeared to be the remains of one or more necklaces. Researchers were able to re-assemble them showing what they may have looked like (left) An almost complete bowl decorated with a frieze that resembles double axes with stars in between them

Among the artefacts discovered were depictions of Egyptian gods including Bes who is associated with children and pregnant mothers. One of the most interesting finds was an offering table depicting the jackal-headed god Anubis and a goddess believed to be Isis.

A dedication to a woman named ‘Aba-la,’ which researchers believe may be a nickname for ‘grandmother,’ was inscribed with ancient Meroitic writing – a script derived from Egyptian hieroglyphs.

It reads: 

Oh, Isis! Oh Osiris!

It is Aba-la.

Make her drink plentiful water;

Make her eat plentiful bread;

Make her be served a good meal.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

Archaeologists discover a 2,600-year-old castle on Egypt’s border

Archaeologists discover a 2,600-year-old castle on Egypt’s border

A former military castle that experts think served as a gate to Egypt’s eastern border protecting it from the Persians 2,600 years ago has been unearthed. Discovered in North Sinai, the fortress is believed to date to 664-610 BC in the Psamtik era – the last before the Persian invasion in 525 BC.

Photos released from the dig reveal a number of items including metal arrowheads, stone daggers and figurines.

The building was discovered by an Egyptian archaeological mission and has been dated to almost three millennia ago, a hundred years before the Persians invaded Egypt.

An Egyptian archaeological mission has discovered remnants of a military castle (pictured) that dates back to the Psamtik era from 664-610 BC in North Sinai province.

According to Mr Hussein, it has encountered serious attacks that destroyed most of its buildings.  

The remnants indicated two castles on the site and it’s thought the main castle which has 16 towers was built on the structure of unfinished construction. 

During the excavation work, some rooms for the soldiers who were tasked with securing the castle were found.   

Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in a statement: ‘The mud brick-constructed castle that belonged to the 26th dynasty is the oldest historically,’

He added that the 85-meter-long southern wall of the castle was built on a structure of another unfinished castle.  

Discovered in North Sinai, the fortress is believed to date to 664-610 – the Psamtik era – the last before the Persian invasion in 525 BC. The photo above shows metal arrowheads discovered at the castle’s excavation site in Sinai
The remnants of two castles were found and it’s thought the main castle with 16 towers was built on the structure of an unfinished construction that came before. The above pictures released by Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities shows aerial views of the excavation

In a post on Facebook by the Ministry of Antiquities, the government agency said that it had located a tower previously standing on the northeast corner and the remains of the South-East Corner Tower, as well as parts of a southern wall. 

‘So far, the excavation works are completed to discover the remains of architectural installations inside the castle,’ the post said.

‘This is the historic castle that the mission revealed on its eastern wall in 2008 and was built on the ruins of this castle another castle that has been previously revealed on the site.’

The Psamtik era which lasted from 664-610 BC was also known as the 26th dynasty, after which a battle led by Persian King Cambyses II defeated Psamtik III‘s army at the Battle of Pelusium, a city on Egypt’s eastern frontier.

Photos released from the dig revealed a number of items including metal arrowheads, stone daggers and figurines (pictured). The castle was discovered by an Egyptian archaeological mission and has been dated to almost three millennia ago
The castle stood a hundred years before the Persian invasion of Egypt in 525BC and could have acted as the main gate guarding the country’s eastern border. Stone daggers (pictured) and figurines were also revealed in the dig at North Sinai
The excavation indicated two castles on the same site with the later castle which has 16 towers was built on an unfinished construction. The occupation of Egypt, which began in 525 BC extended the Persian Empire, shown in purple above from what is now Turkey to Afghanistan

After only six months on the throne, Psamtik II went into battle with the Persian invasion led by King Cambyses II. 

The Persians crossed Sinai with assistance from the Arabs, where the battle ensued at Pelusium. 

The Egyptian military withdrew to Memphis, the traditional capital near Cairo and Cambyses besieged the Sinai and captured it, seizing Psamtik III.

 The former king was initially well treated, but he was later executed for conspiracy against the Persians.

The Persian empire extended to a vast area that includes modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and lasted from the 6th century BC to the 20th century AD.