CAIRO — The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced Feb. 28 the discovery of five ancient water wells, a workshop for smelting copper and a storage center, all of which date back to the Pharaonic era. The discoveries were made on the ancient Horus Military Road in the Tel el-Kidwa area in the north of the Sinai Peninsula.

On the same day, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri said in a statement, “This is the first time that water wells from Pharaonic times have been discovered in that area. Scientific evidence affirms that these wells first appeared in the inscriptions engraved on the walls of the Karnak Temple (in Luxor governorate in the south of Egypt) during the era of King Seti I.”

According to Waziri, “The inscriptions of King Seti I at the Karnak Temple are the main sources that indicate the presence of a series of military fortresses and water wells along the road (the ancient Horus Military Road). One of the inscriptions depicted a water well in front of each fortress of the Horus Road. During the era of the New Kingdom, the ancient Egyptians gave specific names to each of these fortresses and water wells of the ancient Horus Road.”

Waziri added that “there are five discovered wells located outside the walls of the Tel el-Kidwa fortress, in an area characterized by yellow sand.”