The joint Polish-American archaeological mission operating in the city of Bereniki on the western coast of the Red Sea succeeded in uncovering a statue of the Buddha from the Roman era, during its excavation work in the city's ancient temple.
Dr. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the archaeological mission has been working at the site since 1994 under the supervision of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
He stressed that the current season of its excavations at the site witnessed much important evidence of the existence of trade links between Egypt and India during the Roman era, as Egypt was in a site centered on the trade route that connected the Roman Empire to many regions of the ancient world, including India.
Dr. Waziri added that there were many ports during the Roman era on the Red Sea coast in Egypt involved in this trade, the most important of which was Bereniki, where ships arrived from India loaded with products such as pepper, semi-precious stones, textiles, and ivory, which were unloaded in the ports of the Red Sea, then the goods are transported on camels across the desert to the Nile. Other ships then transported the goods to Alexandria and from there to the rest of the Roman Empire.
For his part, Dr. Mariusz Goyazda, head of the mission from the Polish side, said that the discovered statue was made of stone that may have been quarried from the area south of Istanbul, Turkey, or the stone may have been carved locally in Bereniki and dedicated to the temple by one or more wealthy merchants from India.
The height of the statue is 71 cm. It depicts the Buddha standing and carrying part of his clothes in his left hand. There is also a halo around his head with the rays of the sun depicted on it, which indicates his radiant mind. There is also a lotus flower next to him.
Dr. Stephen Sidbotham, head of the mission from the American side, indicated that the mission also succeeded, during its work in the temple, in uncovering an inscription in the ancient Indian language (Sanskrit) dating back to the Roman Emperor Philip the Arab (Marcus Julius Phelps) (244-249 AD.).
And it seems that this inscription is not from the same date as the statue, which is probably much older, as other inscriptions in the same time were in Greek, dating back to the early first century AD.
Also, two coins, from the second century AD from the middle Indian Kingdom of Satavahana, found were at the site of the excavation.
Translated by Ahmed Moamar
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