AP —
A well-preserved Byzantine residential city in the western desert is one of two major archaeological discoveries Egypt announced on Saturday.
The recent discoveries at the Dakhla Oasis and the Marina el Alamein ruins near Alexandria are the latest finds that the Egyptian government hopes will boost the country’s vital tourism sector, which is driven in part by antiquities tourism.
Along with the strategic Suez Canal, tourism is a major source of foreign exchange for the cash-strapped country.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that the first discoveries reveal details of daily life, urban development and economic activity in the Dakhla oasis in the 4th century, when Egypt was part of the Byzantine Empire.
Hisham el-Rathy, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the excavated area included a north-south boulevard where east-west streets intersected, forming squares and public spaces.
The basilica, built in the mid-4th century, overlooks the village’s main street, along with the remains of two watchtowers guarding the outskirts of the city, said Mahmoud Massoud, head of the archaeological expedition.
The oasis, located in Egypt’s western desert New Valley province, is on UNESCO’s Tentative List and is one step closer to being added to the agency’s World Heritage List.
Massoud said many houses were discovered in the area, consisting of heavily fortified structures with thick defensive walls, banquet halls and arched roofs.
They include the house of Tissou, identified as a deacon of the church and dating back to the late 4th century, which archaeologists believe served as a house church before the construction of the city’s cathedral.
Archaeologists also discovered a bread oven, kitchen, and stone-sharpening tools that may have been used for food production. The ministry said in a statement that well-preserved bronze coins inscribed with portraits of Byzantine emperors, Latin inscriptions and Christian symbols, as well as a group of gold coins dating back to the reign of Roman Emperor Constantius II, who ruled from 337 to 361, were also discovered.
Dia Zahran, head of the Department of Islamic, Coptic and Jewish Archaeology, said they had discovered a collection of about 200 pottery shards that would have been used as writing instruments. Zahran said the fragments, known as oktrakas, are inscribed with inscriptions describing business transactions, correspondence and other details of daily life.
Separately, archaeologists discovered 18 ancient tombs at the Marina el Alamein archaeological site, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
The ministry said the discovered graves included 11 graves dug into rock with an average depth of 8 meters, and seven graves with limestone surfaces. This brings the total number of graves found at the site to 48, the ministry said.
Archaeologists said they found pottery vessels, amphorae, lamps, plates, altars and limestone basins at the site.
Head of the expedition, Eman Abdel Khalik, said they discovered a 2.5-meter-long granite sarcophagus containing human remains, which is currently being examined. The remains of a plaster Sphinx statue were reportedly found near the sarcophagus.
Abdel-Khalik said they also found four pieces of gold placed in the mouths of some of the dead. This is known as the “golden tongue”, a custom associated with funerary beliefs at the time.
Marina El Alamein is an archaeological site near the city of Alamein on the north coast of Egypt. The ministry said it was excavated in 1986 and archaeologists believe the site was built in the ancient Greco-Roman port city of Leukaspis on the Mediterranean Sea, where it flourished until the 4th century.
Egypt’s tourism industry is beginning to recover after years of political turmoil and violence following the 2011 uprising and the coronavirus pandemic.
A record 19 million tourists visited Egypt last year, an increase of 21% from 2024, according to official figures. Figures show there were 6.1 million tourists in the first four months of 2026, compared to 5.7 million in the same period in 2025.
