(LIVE SCIENCE) — Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed the remains of a Ptolemaic period temple, a Roman fort and an early Coptic church, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
The church was built in the ruins of the Roman fort, which was found at an archaeological site known as Shiha Fort, in the Aswan governorate in southern Egypt, the ministry announced in a Jan. 18 statement.
The temple dates to the Ptolemaic dynasty, which began about two decades after Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C. and his general, Ptolemy I, took over the Egyptian part of Alexander’s empire, and lasted until 30 B.C. The crumbling temple, also found at the site, was decorated with an unfinished sandstone panel that showcased a Roman emperor, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities’ Egyptian archaeological mission, which conducted the excavations.
