2,100-year-old Egyptian temple hidden in cliff unearthed by archaeologists

Archaeologists have found an ancient Egyptian temple hidden in a cliff face dating back around 2,100 years at the site of Athribis.

Athribis is located near the modern-day city of Sohag and the team started uncovering the temple in 2022.

During the excavation of the temple made of stone, the team found the remains of reliefs showing King Ptolemy VIII (reign circa 170 to 116 BC) offering sacrifices to the goddess Repit and her son Kolanthes.

The temple may have been dedicated specifically to Repit but according to an email sent by project leader Christian Leitz to LiveScience, “the name of this building is still not known”.

He added that the team hopes to learn more about the temple as excavations and analysis continues.

A chamber within the temple has also been discovered that once held utensils and amphorae or clay vessels with two handles and narrow necks.

Reliefs depicting Repit with Min-Ra at the entrance of the chamber were also found by the team.

Repit was the consort of Min-Ra, a god associated with fertility.

In one of the reliefs, Min-Ra was accompanied by two decans, stars that enable people to tell the time at night and they had humanoid bodies with animal heads.

In the relief, one decan has the head of a falcon and the other has the head of an ibis.

The site is part of a larger temple district that archaeologists have been excavating since 2012.