Part Of Long-Lost Pelusiac Branch Of Nile Uncovered In Egypt

AncientPages.com | September 20, 2015 | Civilizations, Places

Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered a 200-meter section of the long-lost Pelusiac branch of the Nile at the Tel Al-Dafna, archaeological site in Qantara.

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

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

The first ever complete industrial city, uncovered at Qantara, includes a collection of kilns used to melt iron and bronze.

Tel Al-Dafna was long known to be a strategic outpost against Egypt's enemies. King Ramses II of the 19th Dynasty (1279-1212 B.C.) chose the site to erect a fortress.

King Psammetichus I, the first ruler of the 26th Dynasty (664-625 B.C.), later established a garrison of foreign mercenaries to defend the eastern borders of Egypt from invaders.

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

More archaeologists and excavators will 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.

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source: Ahram Online