Archaeologists Discover 4000-Year-Old Silos in Upper Egypt

First Intermediate Period Administrative Building Discovered in Kom Ombo

The Egyptian-Austrian archaeological mission working at Kom Ombo (45 kilometres north of Aswan and 170 kilometres south of Luxor) discovered an administrative building dated to the First Intermediate Period (FIP) (2180-2050 B.C).

Dr Mostafa Waziry said “During the excavation to the northern east side of the Ptolemaic temple, a large administrative building with more than 20 conical silos used to store grains were discovered. The administrative facility is dated to the First Intermediate Period.” Dr Waziry added “This discovery highlights the importance of Kom Ombo during the First Intermediate Period, as it had a large population and it was a center for agricultural and commercial activities.”

Dr Abd El-Moniem Said (Director of Aswan and Nubia antiquities) explained “The architectural elements of the silos are very well preserved and some of the silos walls are standing at two meters hight. The existence of rats bones remains and faeces proves vermin infestation in the storage rooms.”

Dr Irene Forstner-Müller (Director of the Austrian mission of the Austrian Archaeological Institute) said “During the mission’s work over the previous seasons at the archaeological site around the Ptolemaic temple, the remains of a fortress was probably built during the British occupation during the 19th century and was used as an observation and defense point by the Nile during the Mahdist revolution in Sudan (1881-1898)”.

#Egypt#Archaeology#EgyptologyAustrian Archaeological Institute – ÖAIDr. Mostafa WaziryOriental Institute – University of Chicago