Archaeologists working at a site on the northeastern fringe of the Nile Delta have uncovered what they believe to be a temple to a god of mud, according to a press release issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on their Facebook page. The site, which lies within the ancient city of Pelusium (or Blozium), a name which itself means 'mud', was first identified in 2019, when a portion of a red brick circular structure was uncovered, something which was originally identified as a possible Senate building, dating from the cities Greek or Roman period.
A section of the red brick wall surrounding the temple complex at Pelusium. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
When fully uncovered the structure proved to be a huge circular basin 35 m in diameter, with a plinth in the middle for a statue. This was connected to a system of cisterns and channels which would have carried salty, silt-laden water from the Pelusic Nile (the 'Muddy' Nile, one of the branches of the Nile Delta) into the basin, which has been interpreted as a religious centre for the God Pelusius, or Blozius, whose name meant 'mud' and who was the patron deity for the city.
The exposed temple site. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
The site is thought to have been in use from the second century BC until the sixth century AD, i.e. through the Greek and Roman periods of the city, and is being compared to other temples in the Hellenic and Roman worlds rather than to other Egyptian temples.
Archaeologists working on the temple site. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
The city of Pelusium was established as a port at the eastern margin of the marshes of the Nile Delta during the Egyptian Old Kingdom, but this port had silted up by the first century BC. Today, the city is several kilometres from the sea, and lies in the northwest Sinai Desert, cut off from the Nile Delta by the Suez Canal. The city was a significant border fortress to the Egyptians, and remained an important administrative centre during Roman times. It was noted for the production of flax and beer.
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