Remains of the long lost temple of Kheny have been unearthed at Gebel el Silsila, north of Aswan, Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities announced today.
Revealing the foundations and blockwork of the temple, the ruins are one of the few remnants of the settlement of Kheny or Khenu, which is the ancient Egyptian name — meaning “Rowing Place” — for Gebel el-Silsila.
The site, located on both banks of the Nile between Edfu and Kom Ombo, was extensively used as a quarry from the New Kingdom until Roman times.
Indeed, virtually all of Egypt’s great temples, including those at Karnak and Luxor, were built with sandstone from Gebel el Silsila.
While cult activities at the site were mainly associated with the Nile and its inundation, the principal deity was Sobek, the god of crocodiles who controlled the waters.
The temple remains were recorded somewhere between 1906 and 1925 and described as a destroyed Ramesside temple in a map published by German Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt in 1934. The temple was then forgotten.
According to Nilsson and Ward, the remains reveal evidence for at least four chronological periods, spanning about 1500 years, from the reigns of Thutmosis/Hatshepsut, Amenhotep III, Ramses II to Roman times.
The archaeologists unearthed hundreds of decorated and painted blockwork, and over 300 decorated limestone fragments which showed iconography characteristic to the early Thutmosid period (1500-1450 BC). Hieroglyphic text mentioned the name of the site, Kheny.
— source discovery.com