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- CAIRO (AFP) - Using sophisticated magnetic sensors, Egyptian experts
have located underground cities linked to Pharaoh Ramses II in the Delta
province of Sharqiya, one of the experts said on Monday.
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- The expert, Ahmed Gouda of the national
institute for astronomical research, told AFP the discovery was made during
a magnetic photographical survey of Qantir -- the Delta capital of Rameses
II -- in Sharqiya province.
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- "We were able to locate a complete
underground city more than 3,000 years old linked to Ramses II," Gouda
told AFP.
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- "It is a wonderful discovery because
it shows the high level of architectural know-how used during pharaonic
times," he added.
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- The experts used an instrument known
as a graduometer offered by the Volkswagen Foundation which measures electric
resistivity and the level of magnetism inside the ground, Gouda said.
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- This method, known as magnetic photography,
provides a picture of what is in the ground, he said.
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- In Qantir, it revealed a complete city
covering an area of about 240 acres replete with temples, peasant dwellings,
workshops, stables and other buildings. The discovery was made under a
wheat and corn field.
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- Another magnetic survey in Sohag, southern
Egypt, revealed tombs and 12 solar boats buried deep inside the Earth.
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- Teams from the astronomical research
institute are currently conducting surveys around the Saqqara pyramids
south of Cairo and in the Fayyum region, southwest of the Egyptian capital.
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- "One-third of Egypt's ground contains
antiquities, and the richest areas are in the Delta," Gouda said.
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