An Egyptian Archaeological Mission of the Ministry of Antiquities, succeeded to discover a temple from the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius, one of the Roman emperors in the second century AD, at Al-Hag Ali village in Siwa Oasis, located 350m away of the Mountain of the Deads (Gabal Al-Marwa).
Dr.Ayman Ashmawy, Head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector explains that this discovery reflects the history of Siwa Oasis and the northern coast during the Roman era. The temple consists of the foundations of a huge rectangular limestone building measured 40 m from north to south and 8.50 m from east to west. Its entrance is located on the northern side lined with two small rooms leading to a 25 m long front hall and the holy of the Hollies. The temple is also surrounded by an outer wall of 71 x 56 m in size.
On his part, Abdul Aziz al-Damiri, general director of the Antiquities of Matrouh and Siwa and the head of the mission, said that the most important parts that has been discovered during the excavations are a limestone painting with Greek inscription and decorated with the sun disk surrounded by cobras. This relied, he asserted has helped to identify the name of the emperor who builtthe temple as well as the ruler of Egypt in this period.
The measure of the block is about 5x 1 m. it was found broken in three parts and is most probably part of the upper lintel that is located at the entrance to the temple.
he continues that the limstone painting was in a good condition of the preservation. and was transfer to store in the Siwa museum’s storehouse to the conservation works
