Archaeologists unearth 2,500-year-old lost Egyptian city, offering new insights into ancient daily life

• Researchers uncovered the lost city of Imet near Tanis, revealing rare multi-story tower houses, granaries, and a temple dedicated to the cobra goddess Wadjet.
• High-resolution satellite imagery guided excavations, exposing a densely urbanized city with ceremonial roads, grain-processing areas, and animal pens.
• A ceremonial bronze sistrum and votive offerings provide insight into the spiritual life of Imet’s inhabitants.
• A preserved 4th-century BC cooking pot with tilapia stew and funerary figurines offer intimate glimpses of daily life.
• The discovery challenges Egyptology’s traditional focus on tombs, reshaping understanding of Late Period urbanization before Alexander’s conquest.

In a groundbreaking discovery that rewrites Egypt’s archaeological record, British and Egyptian researchers have uncovered the lost city of Imet, dating back to the fourth century BC. Located just six miles south of Tanis in the Nile Delta, the city was once a thriving religious and economic hub before fading into obscurity. Now, thanks to high-resolution satellite imagery and meticulous excavation, Imet’s ruins — including rare multi-story tower houses, granaries, and a temple dedicated to the cobra-headed goddess Wadjet — are revealing unprecedented details about daily life in ancient Egypt.

The joint excavation, led by Dr. Nicky Nielsen from the University of Manchester and the University of Sadat City, is reshaping our understanding of Egypt’s Late Period, a time of cultural richness and urban expansion before Alexander the Great’s conquest. “These tower houses are mainly found in the Nile Delta between the Late Period and the Roman era, and are rare elsewhere in Egypt,” Dr. Nielsen told reporters. “Their presence here shows that Imet was a thriving and densely built city with a complex urban infrastructure.”

A city lost to time

For centuries, Imet existed only as a footnote in history, its ruins buried beneath Tell el-Fara’in (Tell Nabasha), a site long overshadowed by its temple to Wadjet. Early 19th-century excavations had focused narrowly on religious structures, missing the sprawling urban center beneath. But by analyzing satellite images showing clusters of mudbrick architecture, archaeologists pinpointed Imet’s layout before digging, uncovering homes, workspaces, and ceremonial roads that once pulsed with life.

The excavation unearthed striking evidence of dense urbanization, including thick-walled “tower houses” rising multiple stories in a design tailored for space efficiency amid a growing population. Researchers also found paved grain-processing areas, animal pens, and traces of a mid-Ptolemaic Period ceremonial building, signaling Imet’s economic and spiritual significance.

Central to Imet’s rediscovery is its religious legacy, anchored in the worship of Wadjet, the protective cobra goddess of Lower Egypt. Dr. Nielsen’s team uncovered a ceremonial processional road leading to her temple, once used for parading divine statues before the people. Yet by the late fourth century BC, this route had fallen into disuse, perhaps reflecting shifting religious priorities under Greek rule after Alexander’s conquest.

Among the most tantalizing finds was a bronze sistrum, a ceremonial rattle adorned with the faces of Hathor, goddess of music and joy. “It is a wonderful piece and something that tangibly links to the spiritual life of the inhabitants,” Dr. Nielsen marveled, noting it likely tumbled from a collapsed upper floor. Equally revealing were votive offerings — small figurines left at temples in hopes of divine favor — and an intricately carved stela depicting Harpocrates standing atop crocodiles, a protective amulet against disease.

Everyday life in ancient Egypt

Beyond grand temples and tower houses, Imet’s ruins yield intimate snapshots of daily existence. Archaeologists were astonished to uncover a 4th-century BC cooking pot, its ancient tilapia stew still preserved as a culinary relic frozen in time. Nearby, a green faience ushabti — funerary figurines meant to serve the dead in the afterlife — hinted at the citizens’ enduring spiritual customs.

These discoveries challenge long-held biases in Egyptology, which traditionally prioritized tombs and pyramids over settlements. “We have a very good understanding of ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs and funerary architecture,” Dr. Nielsen noted, “but archaeology in Egypt has traditionally focused less on daily life and settlement archaeology, so this, in a sense, helps to address that imbalance.’”

The legacy of Imet

Imet’s resurgence illuminates the twilight of native Egyptian rule before foreign conquest reshaped its destiny. The city thrived from at least 1550 BC under the 18th Dynasty but peaked during the Late Period, just as Persia and later Macedon loomed over Egypt. Its artifacts — like a 26th Dynasty ushabti (664–525 BC) — bridge eras, testifying to continuity amid upheaval.

For modern scholars, Imet is a paradigm shift. As excavations continue, each layer peeled back promises deeper revelations about a civilization both monumental and mundane — where sacred rites and fish stews coexisted in the shadow of empire.

The lost city of Imet is no longer a ghost of history. Its resurrection through archaeology offers a rare glimpse into the lived experience of ancient Egyptians beyond pharaohs and pyramids, painting a vivid portrait of devotion, labor, and resilience. As researchers sift through its ruins, Imet stands as a testament to the enduring quest for truth, buried not in sand, but in the forgotten corners of human achievement.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

ArchaeologyMag.com

IFLScience.com