New Delhi: Egypt is a land of great historical and cultural significance thanks to the pyramids and the pharaohs. The country and its ancient kingdoms have fascinated historians throughout the centuries, and now, they have a new food for thought. Now, a forgotten site of ancient Egypt has been excavated and restored. Recently, archaeologists successfully revived a gold-mining complex of 3,000 years old, which was once an important center of the economy of Egypt.
The site called Aten was once a booming gold mining city. It was discovered around five to four years ago under the Valley of Kings in Luxor and excavations were completed this week. According to reports, the team has found remains of workshops, homes, religious temples, bath houses, and administrative buildings. The recovered artifacts go back to later historical periods, including the Roman era and the Islamic era.
The Lost City of Gold in Egypt
Aten, also known as the ‘Lost City of Gold’, is located southwest of Marsa Alam in Egypt’s Red Sea region. It was a major hub of gold mining in ancient Egypt and as per researchers, it played a crucial role in extracting gold from quartz rock making Egypt one of the wealthiest civilizations of its time. For several centuries, Aten was active and produced gold for many Egyptian dynasties to decorate their palaces and tombs.
Excavations have found remains of a facility which processed gold and it had, among its facilities, filtration basins, grinding stations, and clay furnaces. All these point to the fact that gold mining was a vast and profitable industry at that time. Beyond the materials for processing gold, other artifacts found there include a collection of 628 fragments of pottery and stone inscribed with demotic, Greek scripts, and hieroglyphic. According to researchers, these show that Aten was a multicultural and multilingual city.
Other things found from the site are bronze coins from the Ptolemaic dynasty, terracotta figurines from the Greco-Roman Period, decorative items made from seashells and semi-precious stones. The site was named after the God of Sun in Egypt and was founded somewhere between 1386 and 1353 BC. It was the main administrative and industrial center of Egypt for many years until, Akhenaten, King Tutankhamun’s father, began his reign. It was during his rule that the city was abandoned and the capital of Egypt was moved to the city of Amarna. The new findings show the ancient mining industry of Egypt and the workers’ daily lives who lived there. The discoveries not only have archaeological significance but will also boost the economy and tourism of Egypt, as per the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Around 3 km from the original site, a visitor center has been built to display the artefacts.
Archaeologists have unearthed and restored Aten, a 3000-year-old gold mining complex in Egypt, revealing a bustling city with workshops, homes, temples, and administrative buildings. The site, active for centuries, produced gold for numerous dynasties. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
