Archaeologists have discovered the earliest and largest ever discovered astronomical observatory, dating back to the sixth century B.C., in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, according to a statement released on August 23 by Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
The discovery was made by a team of Egyptian archaeologists three years ago while excavating the Temple of Buto in Tell al-Faraeen. The structure is an L-shaped mudbrick building, spanning over 800 square meters. Its east-facing entrance, framed by a traditional gateway known as a pylon, leads to an area where sunlight would shine through, allowing a sky observer to track the sun and stars, according to Hossam Ghonim, the director general of Kafr El-Sheikh Antiquities, who led the Egyptian archaeological mission.
“Everything we found shattered our expectations,” he said.
The details of the process of skywatching described by Ghonim were carved into the structure, depicting a sky observer, who was typically a priest, facing the rising sun.
To the ancient Egyptians, skywatching was important. It helped them determine dates for religious festivals, predict the annual flooding of the Nile, and count the hours of the night. In Egyptian mythology, the sun god Ra would pilot his boat through the dangerous underworld each night, fighting off attacks and rising victorious in the east, marking the dawn of each new day.
Among the simple yet effective technologies the ancient Egyptians used to accurately track the movements of celestial objects were sundials and shadow clocks, which used the shifting angle of the sun’s shadows to determine sunrise, noon, and sunset.
The discovery of a massive stone sundial within the temple, along with artifacts and symbols related to time and astrology, helped archaeologists deduce the true purpose of the structure as an observatory, which they initially believed to be a temple.
The excavation also yielded several artifacts, including a gray granite statue of King Psamtik I, who ruled during the 26th Dynasty, a bronze figure of the god of the underworld Osiris, and a statue of the falcon-headed god Horus.