Archaeologists have discovered a previously unknown temple of ancient rituals during excavations at Berenike, a Greco-Roman port in the eastern desert of Egypt.
The discovery was made by archaeologists from the Sikait Project led by Professor Joan Oller Guzman at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
The study, recently published in the American Journal of Archeology, describes Project Sikait excavations of a religious complex from the Late Roman era.
The religious complex, dubbed the “Temple of Falcon” by researchers, dates back to the Late Roman period, spanning from the fourth to sixth centuries AD. During this time, the city was partially occupied and controlled by the Blemmyes, as shown by the discovery of stela inscriptions in a small traditional Egyptian temple, adapted by Blemmyes to the system. their beliefs after the 4th century AD.
The discovery of their temple at Berenike shows that the Blemmyes had a strong enough presence in the Roman land to worship any kind of religion they wanted, despite any bans that might have been enacted from the Roman capital. Distant code. Previous discoveries in the Nile Valley, Egypt show that falcons were worshiped in ancient times. However, this is the first time archaeologists have discovered a group of falcon mummies buried together inside a temple.
The Blemmy were nomads of the Eastern Desert appearing in written sources from the 7th to 8th centuries BC. The term Greek first appeared in a poem by Theocritus and in Eratosthenes in the third century BC. Blemmyes, according to Eratosthenes, lived with the Megabaroi in the land between the Nile and the Red Sea north of Mero. They occupied Lower Nubia and established a kingdom at the end of the 4th century. From the inscriptions in the temple of Isis in Philae, a considerable amount is known about the structure of the Blemmyan state.
The most notable find in the temple is about 15 falcons, most of them headless. Falconry burials have been found in the Nile Valley but this is the first time archaeologists have discovered falcons buried in a temple and accompanied by eggs.
Along with 15 falcon mummies, archaeologists unearthed a collection of unbroken falcon eggs. This discovery is truly unprecedented. Experts say this reveals a previously unknown ritual of the nomadic Blemmyes. This ritual may be related to the worship of Khonsu (Egyptian moon god), who is often depicted with the head of a falcon and a human body.
The discovery, the team says, suggests a new, previously unknown ancient ritual when compared to falcon burials in the Nile Valley.
Headless falcon mummies found in other areas have always been individuals, not groups, as in the temple discovered at Berenike. In the temple, there is the following inscription: “It is improper to boil a head in here”, which is understood as a message forbidding those entering the temple not to boil the heads of animals inside the temple.
“From its archaeological context, the stele almost certainly records a ban related to the cult of falcons,” the researchers wrote in the study.
“All these factors point to intense ritual activities combining the Egyptian tradition with contributions from Blemmyes, maintained by a theological basis that may be related to the worship of the god Khonsu. Ancient Egyptian moon god). These discoveries expand our knowledge of the Blemmyes, nomads who lived in the eastern desert during the decline of the Roman Empire,” said Professor Joan. Oller Guzman, Sikait project leader, concludes.
The ancient Egyptians not only mummified humans but also animals because they considered them sacred.
In ancient Egyptian depictions, the king of the gods Amun had the head of a ram, the god of death Anubis had the head of a jackal, and the sky god Horus had the head of a hawk.
These are just a few of the many examples that show the special role animals played in ancient Egyptian culture. Because they are considered sacred, they are revered. But this also caused them to be killed and mummified in large numbers.
Any animal, from crocodiles to baboons and birds like ospreys, hawks and ibis, can be killed for a supposedly just cause. Even rodents and snakes were among the millions of animals mummified to offer to the Egyptian gods. The animals are bred for this very purpose.
Some animal mummies have been found, but there are probably millions more that have remained dormant in Egyptian catacombs untouched for more than 2,000 years.
Thanks to advances in technology, people can now see details inside these ancient animal mummies.