Archaeologists, headed by Abdelaziz El Khayari–professor of pre-Islamic archaeology from Morocco’s National Institute of Archaeological Sciences and Heritage–presented new discoveries made this year at Chellah, highlighted perhaps by a footprint found on Friday almost five times the size found at Pompeii, reported AP.
Researchers unearthed new ruins of what they believe to be an active maritime city near Morocco’s capital, and are at this very moment excavating what used to be thermal springs in now-working-class areas, a potential tourist area that the Kingdom hopes will draw visitors and researchers in the coming years.
Researchers believe the area was first settled by the Phoenicians and became a key outpost of the Roman Empire between the second and fifth centuries.
The fortified necropolis and surrounding settlements were built close to the Atlantic Ocean, on the banks of the Bou Regreg River. Discoveries include bricks inscribed in Neo-Punic, a language that predates the arrival of the Romans in Morocco.
The main excavation site has been closed for renovation since the pandemic, and archaeologists have been working on its re-opening since March. The footprint–including the expanded site presented on Friday–is larger than that of Volubilis, the much-visited ruins located 111 miles (179 kilometers) east of Rabat.