Czech archaeologists have found a long lost temple from the Meroe period near the town of Vad Bon Naga in Sudan. The large temple compound is situated 130 km northwards of Khartoum. European travellers saw the remains of the temple in the early 19th century but then the temple disappeared in the desert.

Egypt’s new military authorities have reissued the license to Dominican archaeologist Kathleen Martinez to resume the excavations in the search for the tomb of Cleopatra at Taposiris Magna. Martinez also revealed the theft of many of the artifacts she had already unearthed and the “disappearance” of the excavation equipment during the year-long turmoil in Egypt.

A deep burial well was found on the path leading to King Tuthmosis III’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The well leads to a burial chamber filled with a treasured collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts. Further inside the chamber, excavators stumbled upon a wooden sarcophagus painted black and decorated with hieroglyphic texts, and a wooden stelae engraved with the names and different titles of the deceased. The tomb dates to the 22nd Dynasty (945-712 BC) and it belongs to the daughter of Amun Re, lecture priest in Karnak temples and also the singer of the God Amun Re.

The Antiquities and Tourism police stepped in to stop residents of Beheira digging at Al-Qalayan archaeological site.

In an attempt to preserve and protect archaeological sites threatened by urban development, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) is preparing a list of sites deemed at risk, which will be distributed to archaeological institutes throughout the country. It will be also posted on the SCA website to be promoted internationally.

The Permanent Committee of Antiquities (PCA), led by Mostafa Amine, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), approved the resumption of several archaeological works carried out by foreign archaeological missions.

According to Atef Abul Dahab, head of Ancient Egyptian Antiquities, the 26th dynasty tomb was found during routine digging work in Mansheyet Al-Tahrir Street in Ain Shams to lay the foundations of a residential house. Workers stumbled upon what is believed to be a stony wall engraved with hieroglyphic text.

After a nine month pause due to lack of security following Egypt’s January revolution, seventy five foreign archaeological missions resumed their work today all over Egypt. “These missions are 25 per cent of the foreign archaeological missions who work in Egypt,” said Mohamed Ismail supervisor of the Permanent Committee and Foreign Missions Affairs Section at the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).

The Egyptian Military Operations Authority discovered the nameplate of King Apries in the Tal Defna area in Ismailia. The plate is made up of two pieces of red sandstone with two cartouches bearing the name Wah-ib-ra (Apries) inscribed.

Only a small portion of the structure, possibly an ancient palace, has been excavated so far in Meroë beneath another ancient palace. The structure is the oldest building ever found in the ancient city of Meroë.