Part of long-lost Pelusiac branch of Nile uncovered in Egypt's Qantara

The ancient water-way was a key transport link for the 26th Dynasty and was lost to silt around two millennia ago

By Nevine El-Aref , Monday 14 Sep 2015

Excavations by an Egyptian mission at the Tel Al-Dafna archaeological site in Qantara have uncovered a 200 metre section of the long-lost Pelusiac branch of the Nile.

The Pelusiac branch was the major navigational byway into the delta from Sinai which once divided the ancient Qantara city into east and west.

Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, head of the mission, told Ahram Online that the first ever complete industrial city was uncovered at Qantara. It includes a collection of kilns used to melt iron and bronze in weapon-making for Egyptian army during the 26th dynasty (664-525 AD).

He said the antiquities minister has ordered more archaeologists and excavators to work at the site in order to reveal more of the Pelusiac branch and of the industrial city.

The course of the Pelusiac branch has been traced on a deltaic plain east of the Suez Canal, between the El Baqar Canal and Tell El-Farama (ancient Pelusium). Two minor distributaries branched northward.

The critical stage in the process of the silting of the lower reaches of the Pelusiac branch, due to beach accretion, occurred around 25 AD. Ancient ruins in the area are closely associated with the waterway.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/141504/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Part-of-longlost-Pelusiac-branch-of-Nile-uncovered.aspx

Developments in Qantara

A new rehabilitation project is shaking the dust off ruins that reveal Egypt’s great military history, writes Nevine El-Aref

Two weeks ago, archaeologists and heritage officials applauded when President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi gave the go-ahead for the Suez Canal Corridor Development Project (SCCDP).

The project will widen parts of the existing waterway and create a second, parallel canal. The scheme will not only develop Egypt’s economy and provide jobs, but it will also open up new tourist destinations.

The new waterway is ten km south of Qantara, the eastern gateway to Palestine and Syria in ancient times and the starting point of the famous Horus Road, the longest military road in Egypt and the only one to have retained physical evidence of its ancient fortresses and military structures.

Horus Road was a vital commercial and military link between Egypt and Asia and has borne the marching feet of no fewer than 50 armies. From west to east, the pharaohs Thutmose III and Ramses II crossed Sinai with their military forces. From east to west came the Assyrian hordes, the Persian army of Cambyses, Alexander the Great and his mercenaries, Antiochus and the Roman legions, and Arab conquerors led by Amr Ibn Al-As.

“Digging a parallel canal, ten km from one of Egypt’s most important archaeological sites, is certainly good news for archaeology,” Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Al-Damati told the Al-Ahram Weekly. He added that the project is a good opportunity to spruce up a planned development project for archaeological sites located within the vicinity of the Suez Canal, especially at Qantara.

“The chequered history of Qantara is a reminder of military battles from Pharaonic times to the early 1970s,” Al-Damati said.