Unearthed Ancient Egyptian Observatory Is The Oldest Ever Found

The Egyptian archeologists discovered the remains of the sixth-century-BC structure some three years ago during excavations at Tell Al-Faraeen, previously known as Buto in ancient times, located in Egypt’s Kafr El-Sheikh governorate. According to the director general and the head of the Egyptian archeological mission, Hossam Ghonim, the discovery had shattered all their expectation, especially if we take into consideration the age of the ancient observatory and its size.

Namely, the ruins of this ancient observatory consist of an L-shaped mud-brick building that spans over 9150 square feet, or 850 square meters, with an east-facing entrance to the building, marked with a pylon—a gateway through which the sun entered. The sunlight would illuminate the sky observer, usually a priest, who would track the movement of the sun and the stars. The team in charge of the excavation initially thought they had discovered yet another temple to Egypt’s numerous deities.

However, they later stumbled across various artifacts and inscription symbols that are related to time and astronomy, including the giant sundial, along with several other artifacts, inscriptions, and the layout of the entire structure, which led to the conclusion that the building in question is actually an ancient observatory. The team of archeologists also found different timekeeping devices that belonged to the ancient Egyptians.

The discovery of the ancient observatory isn’t without significance because it sheds some light on the astronomical techniques of the ancient Egyptians, which allowed them to determine the solar calendar and important dates, such as official and religious rituals, coronations, and agricultural years. However, the aforementioned artifacts and inscriptions aren’t the only things that were discovered during the excavation of the ancient observatory.

Namely, researchers also found inscribed stones depicting the views of the sunrise and sunset across three seasons inside the ancient observatory, along with another calendar with the markings of Nile floods and harvests, which is the first such inscription ever found. This only proves that the ancient Egyptians had a deep understanding of the seasonal shifts and the variations in day length. The structure also had some strange placements that don’t really match the sixth-century-BC architecture, like a triad of pillars being on the wrong side of the structure, etc.

Additionally, this ancient observatory had two pylons that faced each other instead of just one, which symbolized the horizon that faces a limestone watchtower that was previously paired with another just like that, and both were used to observe the night sky. Apart from all these fantastic discoveries, the archeologists also uncovered a statue of Horus, the falcon-headed god, along with the eye of Horus, which symbolizes the systems of the universe and their link to the sun and the moon.

Source: Ministry of Tourism and Antiques