(Jul. 2nd) A buried city comes back to light: the first Hellenistic-Roman city in the Nile Delta. In Egypt, the exceptional archaeological discovery has an Italian touch. A team of archaeologists, coordinated by the Italian-Egyptian Archaeological Center, together with the Universities of Padua and Siena – and in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of antiquity – has, in fact, identified the remains of a city buried under the silt of the Nile, in the region of Beheira. The project – under the filed direction of Professor Mohamed Kenawi, Cristina Mondin and Giorgia Marchiori – and with the scientific direction of Professor Emanuele Papi and Paola Zanovello from the University of Siena – was funded in part by the National Geographic / Waitt Grants Program. The field research was carried out in collaboration with several international specialists. Kom al-Ahmer and Kom Wasit are located in the western Delta of the Nile, about 25 km south of the town of Rosetta and 16 km north of Damanhur (Hermopolis Parva.) The two ancient cities are today 7 km east of the Rosetta branch of the Nile, but in ancient times were built in the proximity of the river. Initially, the archaeological site of Kom Wasit was examined by a group of geophysicists and later it was made an intense topography with the help of a drone. These analyzes have identified numerous anomalies. An excavation survey has confirmed that the abnormalities were the ancient buildings: a complete city is therefore under the silt of the Nile. In particular, with the magnetometer, it was found a large rectangular building whose size (115×40 mters), confirmed by the excavation, suggests that it might have been used of religious or administrative purposes. The pictures taken with the drone and the topographic mapping also show that the city had two different orientations, which testify at least two different stages of life. The oldest seems to be dated back to late Pharaohs/Hellenistic era; while the most recent to the late Hellenistic/early Roman period.
