Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Archaeologists have discovered a large military fortress at the Tell El-Kharouba site in the city of Sheikh Zuweid (North Sinai, Egypt) dating back to the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC), local media reported.
Excavations revealed part of the fortress's southern wall, approximately 105 meters long and 2.5 meters wide, with a secondary entrance about 2.2 meters wide. So far, eleven defensive towers have been discovered, along with the northwest tower and parts of the northern and western walls.
Covering an area of ??approximately eight thousand square meters—three times larger than the fortress discovered on the same site in the 1980s, located about 700 meters to the southwest—the newly discovered fortress adds an important chapter to Egypt's chain of military strongholds along the Military Route of Horus.
This new archaeological find sheds light on the sophisticated military planning of rulers during the New Kingdom, who built a series of fortresses and defensive structures to protect Egypt's eastern borders and secure one of its most strategic routes, the one connecting ancient Egypt with Palestine.
The finds include fragments of various ceramic vessels, foundation deposits under one of the towers dating from the early 18th Dynasty, and the handle of a jug inscribed with the name of King Thutmose I. Volcanic stones believed to have been transported by sea from volcanic islands in Greece were also found, as well as a large bread oven with traces of petrified dough, indicating that the fortress served as a self-sufficient military settlement. (Text and photo: RT)
