Ancient Sun Temple Uncovered in Cairo

http://www.comcast.net ^ | 2 26 06 | OMAR SINAN

[freepatriot32]

CAIRO, Egypt - Archaeologists discovered a pharaonic sun temple with large statues believed to be of King Ramses II under an outdoor marketplace in Cairo, Egypt's antiquities chief said Sunday.

The partially uncovered site is the largest sun temple ever found in the capital's Aim Shams and Matariya districts, where the ancient city of Heliopolis _ the center of pharaonic sun worship _ was located, Zahi Hawass told The Associated Press.

Among the artifacts was a pink granite statue weighing 4 to 5 tons whose features "resemble those of Ramses II," said Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Also found was a 5-foot-high statue of a seated figure with hieroglyphics that include three tablets with the name of Ramses II _ and a 3-ton head of royal statue, the council said in a statement.

The green pavement stones of the temple's floor were also uncovered.

An Egyptian team working in cooperation with the German Archaeological Mission in Egypt discovered the site under the Souq al-Khamis, a popular market in eastern Cairo, Hawass said.

"The market has to be removed" as archeologists excavate the entire site, Hawas said.

King Ramses II, who ruled Egypt for 66 years from 1270 to 1213 B.C., had erected monuments up and down the Nile with records of his achievements, as well as building temples _ including Abu Simbel, erected near what is now Egypt's southern border.

Numerous temples to Egypt's sun gods _ particularly the chief god Ra _ were built in ancient Heliopolis. But little remains of what was one the ancient Egyptians' most sacred cities, since much of the stone used in the temples was later plundered.

The area is now covered with residential neighborhoods, close to a modern district called Heliopolis, in Egypt's packed capital.

[freepatriot32]

ping

[bert]

How do Egyptians root for their soccer team?

Ra Ra Ra!!!

[freepatriot32]

i heard the full version goes ra ra ree kick them in the knee ra ra rass kick them in the......other knee :-)

[Calpernia]

ping

[RightWhale]

The area is now covered with residential neighborhoods

But, no recorded private property. 85% of Cairo is unrecorded property.

[2001convSVT]

I wonder how long it take for the terrorist to blow it to smithereens (after all it is a pagan temple)?

[SunkenCiv]

alas...

Egypt announces discovery of Ramses II statues
Reuters | Feb. 26, 2006 | Reuters
Posted on 02/26/2006 5:49:43 PM EST by FairOpinion
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1586013/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1586013/posts?page=24#24

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks freepatriot32.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

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[mtbopfuyn]

Sun temple? Naw, prolly just the local baseball field.

[akorahil]

Archeological find?
In Cairo?
Only one person to call...

[fanfan]

But, no recorded private property. 85% of Cairo is unrecorded property.

That is a problem in almost all of the trouble spots in the world.

No private land ownership.

[ol' hoghead]

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert ... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works ye mighty and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

-- Percy Bysshe Shelley

[isrul]

Just a reminder of what a great civilization existed there before the blight of islam. Perhaps Egypt could be great again if this alien ideology was rooted out.

[RicocheT]

Most of the ancient civilizations' structures are knocked over or covered.

In Greece, few unmoved stones or columns are higher than your knees. The taller ones are rebuilds using stone that seems to fit on top of others. Egypt actually has some higher structures as they used bigger blocks that didn't knock over or get stripped for newer buildings. Roman ruins are best preserved in Turkey or North Africa. The Pantheon is the only good original in Rome.

Time, earthquakes and building stone robbers have been hard on ancient buildings.