CAIRO (AP) – Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of a temple dedicated to the ancient Greek god Zeus in the Sinai Peninsula, antiquities authorities said on Monday.
The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said in a statement that the temple ruins were found at the Tell el-Farma archaeological site in northwest Sinai.
Tell el-Farma, also known by its ancient name Pelusium, dates from the late Pharaonic period and was also used in the Greco-Roman and Byzantine periods. There are also remains from the Christian and early Islamic periods.
Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said archaeologists excavated the temple ruins through the front gate, where two huge fallen granite pillars can be seen. The gate was destroyed in ancient times by a powerful earthquake, he said.
Waziri said the ruins were found between Fort Pelusium and a memorial church on the site. Archaeologists found a series of granite blocks that were probably used to build a stairway for worshipers to reach the temple.
Excavations in the area date back to the early 1900s, when French Egyptologist Jean Clédat found ancient Greek inscriptions showing the existence of the Zeus Casios Temple, but he did not excavate it, according to the ministry.
Zeus-Kasios is an amalgamation of Zeus, the god of the sky in ancient Greek mythology, and Mount Kasios in Syria, where Zeus once worshipped.
Hisham Hussein, director of archaeological sites in Sinai, said inscriptions found in the area showed that the Roman emperor Hadrian (117-138) renovated the temple.
He said experts will examine the excavated blocks and conduct a photogrammetric survey to help determine the temple’s architectural design.
The temple ruins are the latest in a series of ancient discoveries that Egypt has been touting in recent years in hopes of attracting more tourists.
The tourism industry is suffering from the political unrest that followed the 2011 popular uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The sector has also been further affected by the coronavirus pandemic and most recently by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.