Ancient Christian Ruins Discovered in Egypt

The ancient Christian structures were found carved into the bedrock at the Tal Ganoub Qasr Al Agouz site in Egypt's Western Desert Bahariya Oasis. (AFP)
The ancient Christian structures were found carved into the bedrock at the Tal Ganoub Qasr Al Agouz site in Egypt's Western Desert Bahariya Oasis. (AFP)
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Ancient Christian Ruins Discovered in Egypt

The ancient Christian structures were found carved into the bedrock at the Tal Ganoub Qasr Al Agouz site in Egypt's Western Desert Bahariya Oasis. (AFP)
The ancient Christian structures were found carved into the bedrock at the Tal Ganoub Qasr Al Agouz site in Egypt's Western Desert Bahariya Oasis. (AFP)

A French-Norwegian archaeological team has discovered new Christian ruins in Egypt's Western Desert, revealing monastic life in the region in the fifth century AD, the Egyptian antiquities ministry said Saturday.

The mission unearthed "several buildings made of basalt, others carved into the bedrock and some made of mud bricks," during its third excavation campaign at the Tal Ganoub Qasr al-Agouz site in the Bahariya Oasis, the ministry said in a statement.

The complex is comprised of "six sectors containing the ruins of three churches and monks' cells", whose "walls bear graffiti and symbols with Coptic connotations", said Osama Talaat, head of Islamic, Coptic and Jewish Antiquities at the ministry.

Mission head Victor Ghica said "19 structures and a church carved into the bedrock" were discovered last year.

The church walls were decorated with "religious inscriptions" and biblical passages in Greek, revealing "the nature of monastic life in the region", Ghica said, according to the statement.

It clearly showed that monks were present there since the fifth century AD, he said, adding that the discovery helped understand "the development of buildings and the formation of the first monastic communities" in this region of Egypt.

The remote site, located in the desert southwest of the capital Cairo, was occupied from the fourth to eighth centuries, with a likely peak of activity around the fifth and sixth centuries, according to the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology (IFAO), in charge of the mission.

Previous excavations undertaken in 2009 and 2013 shed light on subjects including "the production and preservation of wine as well as the husbandry of animals" in a monastic context, according to the IFAO.

Cairo has announced several major new archaeological discoveries in recent months with the hopes of spurring tourism, a sector that has suffered multiple blows, from a 2011 uprising to the coronavirus pandemic.

In February, it said a high-production brewery believed to be more than 5,000 years old had been uncovered at a funerary site in the country's south.

Also last month, an Egyptian-Dominican archaeological mission working near Alexandria said it had discovered mummies from around 2,000 years ago bearing golden-tongued amulets.

In January, Egypt unveiled ancient treasures found at the Saqqara archaeological site south of Cairo, including sarcophagi over 3,000 years old, in a discovery that "rewrites history", according to famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass.



Japan Launches Climate Change Monitoring Satellite

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H2A rocket is seen at the lauch pad before its 50th and final launch at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, 28 June 2025. EPA/JIJI PRE/JIJI PRESS
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H2A rocket is seen at the lauch pad before its 50th and final launch at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, 28 June 2025. EPA/JIJI PRE/JIJI PRESS
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Japan Launches Climate Change Monitoring Satellite

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H2A rocket is seen at the lauch pad before its 50th and final launch at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, 28 June 2025. EPA/JIJI PRE/JIJI PRESS
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H2A rocket is seen at the lauch pad before its 50th and final launch at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, 28 June 2025. EPA/JIJI PRE/JIJI PRESS

Japan on Sunday launched a satellite monitoring greenhouse gas emissions using its longtime mainstay H-2A rocket, which made its final flight before it is replaced by a new flagship designed to be more cost competitive in the global space market.

The H-2A rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan, carrying the GOSAT-GW satellite as part of Tokyo’s effort to mitigate climate change.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which operates the rocket launch, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will hold a news conference later Sunday to give further details of the flight.

Sunday's launch marked the 50th and final flight for the H-2A, which has served as Japan’s mainstay rocket to carry satellites and probes into space with near-perfect record since its 2001 debut. After its retirement, it will be fully replaced by the H3, which is already in operation, as Japan's new main flagship, The Associated Press reported.

The launch follows several days of delay due to malfunctioning in the rocket’s electrical systems.

The GOSAT-GW, or Global Observing SATellite for Greenhouse gases and Water cycle, is a third series in the mission to monitor carbon, methane and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.

Japan sees a stable, commercially competitive space transport capability as key to its space program and national security, and has been developing two new flagship rockets as successors of the H-2A series — the larger H3 with Mitsubishi, and a much smaller Epsilon system with the aerospace unit of the heavy machinery maker IHI. It hopes to cater to diverse customer needs and improve its position in the growing satellite launch market.