The joint Italian-Polish archaeological mission working in the temple of King Nyuserre in Abu Ghrab, north of AbuSir, discovered the remains of a mud-brick building below the temple, which preliminary studies indicate that it may be one of the four lost Sun temples from the Fifth Dynasty.
Mostafa Waziri, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, stated that excavations will continue at the site to reveal more of this building.
Waziri said that the remains of the discovered building are accessed through an entrance built of limestone, leading to the area between the storehouses in the north and the wide courtyard to the west, where there is a paved floor of mud bricks and containing huge blocks of quartz, some of which have a weighted face and are embedded in the floor below the temple of Nyuserre.
Ayman Ashmawy, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the remains of the discovered building indicate that it was built of mud bricks, and that it was partially removed by Nyuserre to build his temple, pointing out that many pottery vessels were discovered at the site, which may have been used in foundation rituals for the oldest temple. They were found in the northeastern corner of the interior of the sun temple and below the stone slabs of the foundations of the temple of King Nyuserre.
Mohamed Youssef, Director of Saqqara Antiquities District, said that the foundation deposits were found at the level of the mud-brick wall of the ancient temple, which consisted of beer pots and some pots with a red edge.
Rosanna Birley, head of the mission from the University of Naples, said that many parts of clay seals bearing royal names were also found, including the Hurricane name of King “Shepskare” of the Fifth Dynasty, about which we do not have much information, stressing that the new discoveries may indicate the existence of activities His in this site, which may change our knowledge of the history of this king in particular and the Fifth Dynasty in general.
Massimiliano Nozolo, head of the mission from the Polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw, confirmed that the mission will complete its work soon, and will unveil more secrets about this building.
