The Egyptian- Austrian mission working in Kom Ombo Temple in Aswan Governorate, some 1000 km south to Cairo, unearthed an administrative facility, dating back to the first transitional period, in ancient Egypt.
Dr. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explained that during the excavations work in the northeastern side of the Ptolemaic temple in the Kom Ombo temple area, the Egyptian-Austrian mission unearthed more than 20 conical silos, which are likely to be an administrative facility that was used to store and distribute grains during the first transition era that runs from the year 2180 until 2050 BC.
Dr. Waziri described the excavation as important and unique in the region because it indicates the importance of the city of Kom Ombo during the first transition period, and that it had distinguished agricultural and commercial activity and in which large numbers of residents lived.
For his part, Dr. Abdel Moneim Saeed, Director- General of Aswan Antiquities’ Department, said that the architectural elements of the silos, including vaults, stairs, and storage rooms, are in a good state of preservation.
He noted that the walls are up to two meters high, and there are some silos that are more than two meters long.
In addition, remains of mice bones and their excrement were found inside the rooms of one of the silos, which indicates that the storage rooms were infested with insects and rodents.
Dr. Irene Foster, head of the the Austrian team, added that the joint mission was also able, while working in the archaeological hill surrounding the Ptolemaic temple, to discover the remains of the foundations of a fort that was likely built during the British occupation of Egypt during the nineteenth century.
This fort may be used as a control and defense point to monitor the course of the Nile River during the Mahdist revolution in Sudan during the year 1881 / 1885 AD.
Translated by Ahmed Moamar
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