Archaeologists find ancient pottery workshop in Egypt

CAIRO – 21 July 2018: Egyptian Archaeologists have discovered an ancient pottery manufacturing workshop dating back more than 4,000 years in Aswan.

The workshop, the oldest pottery workshop in the Old Kingdom, belongs to the 4th Dynasty, spanning 2,613 to 2,494 B.C., the Ministry of Antiquities said on Thursday’s statement. It is situated close to the Nile River in Aswan.

Inside the workshop, archaeologists have found an ancient pottery manufacturing wheel made of a turntable and a hollow base.

This discovery is "rare" and reveals more about the improvement of pottery manufacturing and the daily lives of ancient Egyptians during that time in history, Mostafa al-Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said.

The year 2018 is considered the year of archeological discoveries. The remains of a Greco-Roman temple was uncovered by an Egyptian archaeological mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities while performing excavations at the Al-Salam archaeological site on Wednesday, April 4.

Al-Salam archaeological site is about 50 kilometers east of Siwa Oasis. The archeologists uncovered the front part of the temple in addition to parts of its foundations, its main entrance and one-meter thick stones from its outer wall. The outer wall leads to a front courtyard with entrances to chambers. The rest of the temple is expected to be excavated this year.

The Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany announced on Feb. 24 the discovery of eight tombs that contain about 40 coffins of Pharaonic priests and more than 1,000 Ushabti statues in the Tuna el-Gebel area in Minya governorate.

“Today we are announcing the beginning of a new discovery; the tombs are full of jewelries, potteries and pharaonic jars,” Enany recounted on Feb. 24.

This discovery is described by Enany as one of the largest and most important archaeological discoveries unearthed in recent times. The new archeological discovery is documenting some issues related to the lives of ancient Egyptians in Minya province tens of centuries ago.

The most prominent finds in these tombs were a gold mask, coffins, mummies and statues. The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities added that the area of the discovery requires years of hard work, pointing out that the main advantage of this discovery is that it was discovered by Egyptians.

It is worth mentioning that this discovery is considered the second discovery in 2018 after a new tomb of an ancient Egyptian woman named Hetpet was discovered in the Western Cemetery located in the Pyramids area in Giza, as announced on Feb. 3 by Enany.

Hetpet was a woman with a high social position in ancient times. She has a number of cognomens, including the priest of the goddess Hathour. Hathour is a pharaonic goddess who symbolizes the principles of joy, feminine love and motherhood.

Enany previously elaborated that the excavation work in this area started in October 2017 and will continue in 2018 under the supervision of Mostafa el-Waziry, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.