Location

Sinai is a peninsular region in Egypt. It is the only part of the country located in the boundary of Asia. Sinai has an area of about 60,000 sq.km. Approximately 1,400,000 people live in this region. It is mostly a desert region.

The Discovery

In the last week of July 2019, the Ministry of Antiquities in Egypt announced an astonishing discovery. It was about a building of Greek-Roman era. A team of researchers was carrying out an expedition in the region of north Sinai. There they discovered remains of this building.

Archaeologists working on the site

The Condition of the Building

According to the head of the Ministry of Antiquities, Ayman Ashmawy, a huge number of remnants of an ancient building has been discovered. The building expanded in an area of about 2,500 sq.meters. Ancient workers used red bricks and limestones for the construction of this building. It has a rectangular shape from the outside with circular strips from the inside. It also has a gate on the eastern side. So, it was a huge consruction.

The Interior Design of The Building

According to the head of the Central Department of antiquities in Lower Egypt, Nadia Khader, the interior design of the building is remarkable. It consisted of the remains of three circular stands. Ancient people used these stands for sitting purpose. Each of the stands had a thickness of 60 centimeters. It is built of red brick and coated with marble. The foundation of the main building is rectangular and constructed of red brick. The middle of the third stand revealed the remains of this foundation.

Remains of building in North Sinai

What Archaeologists Think About This discovery?

It was during the time period between the fifth and sixth centuries C.E. According to the Director-General of the Antiquities of North Sinai, Hisham Hussein, the building was used as a quarry during this time. Artisans kept stones, bricks, and columns in this building. The main purpose of this activity was to use them in the construction of other buildings in the later period.

Sample of the material of construction

The Interesting Point

During excavations in this region, archaeologists noticed an important point in all over the material remains. Excavations revealed a number of columns and pillar of columns, crowns, tassels, tiles of mosaic and colored mortar, etc. All these things were taken from their original places in the discovered area. So, we can say that it was basically some sort of recycling process in ancient times in Egypt.