Lost 4,500-year-old temple unearthed in Egypt
Archaeologists in Egypt say they've made one of the most
important discoveries in decades.
They have found one of the four lost sun temples built by
the pharaohs while they were still alive in an attempt to turn themselves into
living gods.
It is believed that only six sun temples were built by
Egyptian pharaohs some 4,500 years ago.
Just two of them have been unearthed so far, so
archaeologists are describing the discovery of a third such structure as the
biggest find for 50 years.
It stands in the Abu Gorab site south of Cairo and it would
have featured a large courtyard with a tall obelisk inside it that was
perfectly aligned with the east-west arc of the sun.
Whilst the enormous pyramids were designed to ensure the
pharaoh's status as a god in the afterlife, the sun temples were smaller
structures and were meant to enshrine them as living gods.
Which means they may well have been cheaper and more
effective at ensuring a pharaoh's divinity.
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