A New Study Conducted the Most Comprehensive Survey of Egypt's Karnak Temple, Revealing ‘Unprecedented Detail'
A new study published Monday in the journal Antiquity reveals that Egypt's temple complex of Karnak was built on a "fluvial terrace," or small island. The research, based on the first comprehensive geoarchaeological survey of the area, found that the complex was "surrounded by river channels in an island configuration potentially recalling the ‘primeval mound' of Egyptian creation myths."
The study, co-authored by nearly a dozen researchers, determined that the Karnak site was likely first occupied around 2520 BCE, during the Old Kingdom. The team analyzed data from 61 sediment cores taken across the site, dating them by examining thousands of ceramic fragments contained within. The earliest ceramics found at the site date between 2305 and 1980 BCE.
The Temple of Karnak is Egypt's second most-visited archaeological site, rivaled only by the Pyramids of Giza. The vast open-air complex includes nearly two dozen temples, chapels, and other structures, built over centuries and across the reigns of some 30 pharaohs. Karnak was located in or near the ancient city of Thebes, which served as Egypt's capital for much of the Middle and New Kingdoms.
A New Study Conducted the Most Comprehensive Survey of Egypt's Karnak Temple, Revealing ‘Unprecedented Detail' |
