Lost Egyptian sun temple unearthed in one of the most important discoveries of the last 50 years
Archaeologists toiling in the Egyptian desert have made one of the most important discoveries of the last 50 years after unearthing one of the four lost sun temples. It is thought half a dozen sun temples were erected by the pharaohs of the fifth dynasty to complement their pyramids. The vast pyramids were built by pharaohs to be their final resting places and to ensure they became a god in the afterlife.
Sun temples, however, took the deification desire one step further and were intended to make the pharaoh a god while still alive. But while experts believe six were built by different pharaohs, only two have ever been found by modern archaeologists.
Ra, the sun god, was the most powerful god in ancient Egypt and the focal point of many elaborate rituals. Each sun temple featured a large courtyard encompassing a tall, pyramid-like obelisk that aligned perfectly with the east-west axis of the sun. This was designed so that on the summer solstice the sun rose and shone through the plaza entrance and basked the obelisk in light at the crack of dawn, with the sun setting at the exact opposite side of the temple.
Dr Massimiliano Nuzzolo, assistant professor of Egyptology at the Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, has spent his career trying to discover the others. At an already known sun temple, which was built in Abu Goab by the king Nyuserre, who ruled for about 30 years in the 25th century BC. a cache of beer jars filled with mud, a ritual offering reserved for the most sacred places, was discovered in the foundations, which was proof, the researchers say, that the old site was a temple.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/lost-egyptian-sun-temple-unearthed-143626827.html
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