• A 3,000-year-old fortress was found in North Sinai, spanning 85,000 square feet.
• Excavations revealed towers, storage vessels, ovens, and petrified dough from daily soldier life.
• Other finds include volcanic stone and a vessel inscribed with Pharaoh Thutmose I’s name.

Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a more than 3,000-year-old fortress that has been described as one of the country’s “largest and most important” at the Tell El-Kharouba archaeological site in North Sinai.

Today, the expansive ruins of the fortress lie outside the Egyptian town of Sheikh Zuweid, close to the border with the Gaza Strip, but during the New Kingdom, 1550 B.C.E. to 1070 B.C.E., it stood along the Way of Horus, a trade route dating back to the Bronze Age that connected Egypt and the Levant with Anatolia and Mesopotamia. That route, together with the border itself, was worth protecting, something ancient Egypt’s rulers achieved through a chain of forts along the Mediterranean coast.

“This structure underlines the brilliant planning of Egypt’s ancient kings,” Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement. “They built a series of fortresses to protect Egypt’s eastern borders and sure the most important strategic routes.”

The southern entrance of the fortress was modified several times researchers said. Photo: courtesy Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

The excavations that took place earlier this year revealed that the fortress was spread across an area of around 85,000-square feet—about the size of half a city block. It is three times larger than a fortress that was discovered nearby in the 1980s. The initial work has revealed the structure’s southern wall, which was extremely thick and more than 300 feet long. The walls were protected by a ring of 11 towers and included a narrow entry gate. Parts of the northwestern and western walls have also been identified, though they remain largely buried beneath sand.

Initial studies show that the fortress was repaired and redesigned several times. As the Ministry noted, the southern entrance was modified to improve defenses and respond to the changing nature of military conflict.

Inside, an internal wall divided the fortress along its north to south axis and archaeologists have identified an area that is believed to have housed soldiers. The excavation has also turned up pottery, large vessels used for storage, a bread oven, and the remains of petrified dough—finds that researchers say indicate the fortress as an integral part of the soldiers’ daily life.

Vessel stamped with the cartouche of King Thutmose I. Photo: courtesy Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Elsewhere, researchers found deposits in the foundations of one of the defensive towers that dated back to the early 18th dynasty, 1550 B.C.E. to 1295 B.C.E., as well as a vessel marked with the name of King Thutmose I, who reigned from 1506 B.C.E. to 1493 B.C.E. Another intriguing find were lumps of volcanic stone that researchers believe were imported from Greek islands.

Excavations at Tell El-Kharouba are set to continue with researchers aiming to uncover the rest of the fortress as well as begin work on a nearby military port that is thought to have been connected to the fortress.

Earlier this month, Egyptian authorities reopened the tomb of the 18th-dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III to the public after more than two decades of restorations.