Archaeologists have discovered a shrine in a temple in Egypt that describes a ritual never find before . It comes from the religious complex of the ancient seaport of Berenike , a city that see back to the third hundred BCE . The complex itself is a deal more forward-looking having been work up over 700 years later , during the decline and last 100 of the Western Roman Empire .
The newly ground place of adoration has been named the " Falcon Shrine " by researchers due to the cloth found that evoke a ritual social occasion connect with a falcon cult , and go steady from the quaternary to sixth one C CE . During this fourth dimension , the city was partially concern by the Blemmyes , a nomadic mathematical group of people from the Nubian region who had spread to many other area of Egypt ’s Eastern desert .
This determination gives raw perceptivity into the religious practice of the Blemmyes and how they merge them with the Egyptian belief system . The most incredible breakthrough , move over the shrine its name , was the discovery of 15 falcon – most of them headless – lay to rest within the synagogue . The burial ofmummified falconshas been find in other temples but usually only one on its own . discover multiple bird together with eggs is a unique discovery .
Complete skeleton of an adult peregrine falcon found in the southeastern corner of the inner room of the complex. Image credit: Oller Guzmán et al., 2022, American Journal of Archaeology
“ The real determination are particularly remarkable and include offering such as harpoons , regular hexahedron - shape statues , and a stele with indications related to spiritual natural action , ” Professor Joan Oller Guzmán , the Sikait Project inquiry squad managing director tell in astatement .
Among the real finding , the stela is especially intriguing . The stela is believe to depict a procession of god and bears an inscription that study : “ It is improper to moil a point in here . ” A prohibition such as this in a spiritual synagogue has not been seen before in Berenike and implies that performing that ritual in the temple was a profane activity . It was likely performed elsewhere .
According to Professor Oller , “ all of these elements point to intense ritual natural action combining Egyptian tradition with contributions from the Blemmyes , sustained by a theological base maybe related to the worshipping of the god Khonsu . The find expand our noesis of these semi - nomad people , the Blemmyes , living in the Eastern desert during the declination of the Roman Empire . ”
The team ’s working hypothesis is that this shrine is older and had a unlike function before the Blemmyes arrived and repurposed it for their religious ceremonies . As Egyptian religious ceremonies continue to take place at the same time in Berenike , it is potential that these semi - peregrine mass included Egyptian traditions in their practice , adding new ritual .
The work was publish in theAmerican Journal of Archaeology .
