Archaeologists have uncovered ancient industrial workshops from the Late Period to the early Ptolemaic era, alongside a Roman-era cemetery, at the Kom al-Ahmar and Kom Wasit sites in Egypt's Western Nile Delta. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the find on Tuesday, featuring a large industrial building with rooms dedicated to fish processing and tool manufacturing. The discovery sheds new light on trade networks in the region.
An exciting announcement from a joint Egyptian-Italian archaeological mission has revealed significant finds in Egypt's Western Nile Delta, near Alexandria. Dating to the 5th century BC, the site includes a large industrial building with at least six rooms. Two of these were devoted to mass fish processing, as evidenced by the recovery of about 9,700 fish bones, pointing to a thriving salted fish industry in the Late Period and early Ptolemaic era.
Mohamed Abdel Badie, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector, explained that other rooms likely served for producing metal and stone tools, as well as faience amulets. Archaeologists retrieved several unfinished limestone statues and production-stage pieces, along with imported Greek pottery and amphorae that helped date the activities.
Excavations also uncovered part of a Roman cemetery with three burial methods: direct interments in the ground, burials in pottery coffins, and child burials inside large amphorae. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, described the discovery as a key addition to understanding settlement patterns and industrial life in the West Delta hinterlands. It offers fresh evidence of trade and communication networks from the Late Period through the early Islamic era.
A bio-archaeological analysis is ongoing for the remains of 23 individuals, including men, women, and children. Cristina Mondin, mission head from the University of Padua, reported preliminary findings showing the people enjoyed relatively good health, without signs of major diseases or violent injuries. Dozens of intact amphorae and a pair of gold earrings from a young girl have been moved to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo for restoration and study.