Archaeologists have uncovered an underground architectural complex dating back approximately 2,600 years within the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Buto. The discovery was enabled through the use of satellite imagery and geophysical survey techniques.
Sea-news.az reports citing The Independent.
The city of Buto, also known as Tell el-Fara’in, traces its origins to roughly 3800 BC during the Predynastic period of Egypt. The settlement remained continuously inhabited into the early Islamic era. Due to successive rebuilds over millennia, older structures became buried beneath subsequent construction layers and riverine silt.
To pinpoint subsurface archaeological features, researchers utilized radar data from the Sentinel-1 satellite alongside electrical resistivity tomography of the soil. Initial satellite scans identified anomalous signatures near the Nile, which were subsequently processed to construct three-dimensional models of the buried architecture.
Explorations revealed a substantial structure dating to Ancient Egypt’s Saite (26th Dynasty) period situated at a depth of 3 to 6 meters. Targeted micro-excavations uncovered mudbrick walls alongside ritual artifacts, leading researchers to hypothesize that the edifice served as a major shrine or funerary complex.
Additionally, a thick layer of clean sand was identified at a depth of 6 to 7 meters. Scientists speculate that ancient builders placed this sand cushion intentionally as an engineered foundation to stabilize the structure and distribute its load evenly over the delta soil.
Archaeologists plan to expand future survey areas to determine whether additional ancient structures—including potentially another temple—remain hidden beneath deeper strata.
