(ORDO NEWS) — A Polish archaeological mission working in Sudan has discovered ancient stone blocks engraved with hieroglyphs.
Dating these artifacts and deciphering the texts can rewrite the history of the city of Old Dongola and the powerful kingdom of Makuria, which replaced the ancient Egyptian rulers.
Nauka w Polsce talks about a discovery that can rewrite history. Sandstone blocks covered with hieroglyphs have been discovered during excavations at Old Dongol, an ancient city in Sudan.
Already preliminary dating has shown that they were made in the first half of the first millennium BC. This means that the history of the city itself can be automatically pushed back a whole millennium.
The fact is that until now the most ancient ruins found on the territory of this archaeological site were structures of the fifth century AD.
Old Dongola was the capital of the powerful kingdom of Makuria, which controlled a vast territory in the Nile Delta from the 5th to the 14th centuries. In fact, this kingdom replaced the rulers of ancient Egypt.
All the more interesting is the new find. The fact is that stone blocks over 2000 years old were discovered in a medieval citadel.
They were probably part of a destroyed or dismantled ancient structure, most likely a temple. The blocks were reused to build a fortress in the Middle Ages.
Scientists have already established that the hieroglyphic inscriptions found on the blocks are ancient Egyptian. In addition, the stones are decorated with images of figures, also characteristic of the culture of Ancient Egypt.
Egyptologist David F. Vechorek stated that these blocks were likely elements from the pharaoh’s temple.
According to him, the construction dates back to the first half of the 1st millennium BC, that is, it was during the reign of the XXV dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She ruled over vast areas of Northeast Africa and the Middle East.
“At the moment it is not possible to clearly determine whether this material is local or it was brought from some other place,” says Dr. Vechorek.
“Nevertheless, it is surprising that there are so many of these blocks and that they seem to have been extracted from the same temple.”
According to the scientist, to date, archaeologists have already discovered about 100 blocks made of white sandstone.
True, not all of them are decorated with inscriptions and drawings. Many blocks were found not in the citadel, but in the ruins of medieval houses. Of these, not only walls were erected, but also floors.
Until now, it was believed that the city of Old Dongola was founded in the fifth century AD.
However, in the light of new finds, scientists plan to revise the history of the settlement of this place. After the end of the study, the ancient city can be “aged” for another thousand years.
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