Only the remnants of two temples have been confirmed to yet, including those of Nyuserre.
CAIRO: An Italian archaeological mission unearthed the remains of an ancient Egyptian king’s sun temple near Cairo, the Egyptian antiquities ministry announced on Friday.
The temple of King Nyuserre is thought to date from the Fifth Dynasty, and its ruins were discovered in the Abusir necropolis south of Egypt’s capital. It is part of a huge complex dedicated to the worship of the sun god Ra, and it is one of the few solar temples discovered to date.
The site was recognised as early as 1901 by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt, who is most known for discovering the famed bust of ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti in 1912, but excavation was halted due to a high water table.
According to the ministry, the mission has discovered more than half of the temple, which had been buried for centuries under River Nile mud.
The ministry characterised a massive structure of over 1,000 square meters as having “unique architecture that ranks it among the largest and most remarkable valley temples in the Memphis necropolis,” a collection of ancient funeral structures. The ministry discovered architectural characteristics like as column bases, wall coverings, and granite thresholds, as well as a slope ramp “likely connecting the temple to the Nile or one of its branches”.
Abusir, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Cairo, is an archaeological site notable for the pyramids of various pharaohs, but little in comparison to the pyramids of Giza. The University of Leicester believes that six solar temples were built under the reign of the Fifth Dynasty’s pharaohs.
Only the ruins of two temples, including Nyuserre, have been authenticated to date, according to the British institution, which is famed for identifying the remains of Richard III, the English king who died more than five centuries ago.