Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Archaeologists in Egypt found a whole old city buried in the desert.
The city is at a place called Ain el-Sabil, in the Dakhla Oasis.
The city is very old. It was built about 1,700 years ago.
The city has streets, houses, a church, and even a fort with walls.
- archaeologist
- a scientist who studies old objects and places to learn about the past
- oasis
- a place in the desert where water and plants can be found
- buried
- covered completely, often under earth or sand
- ancient
- very old, from a long time ago
- basilica
- a large, important building used for religious or public gatherings
- fortress
- a strong building made to protect people from attack
- coin
- a small piece of metal used as money
- excavate
- to dig carefully in the ground to find old objects
Level 2 — Elementary
Egyptian archaeologists from the Supreme Council of Antiquities have uncovered an entire mudbrick city at Ain el-Sabil, a site in the Dakhla Oasis in Egypt's Western Desert.
Unlike many ancient settlements that grew slowly over time, this city was carefully planned from the very beginning, with straight streets crossing each other in a neat grid pattern and open public squares.
At the heart of the city stands a basilica dating from the mid-fourth century CE, which appears to have served as the center of both religious and community life for the residents.
Archaeologists also found a fortress with thick walls and watchtowers guarding the city's edges, along with about 200 inscribed pottery pieces written in Coptic and Greek, plus bronze and gold coins.
- mudbrick
- a building block made from dried mud, used in ancient construction
- settlement
- a place where people establish a community to live
- grid pattern
- an arrangement of straight lines crossing at right angles, like a checkerboard
- residents
- people who live in a particular place
- watchtower
- a tall structure used to observe the surrounding area, often for defense
- inscribed
- having writing carved or marked onto a surface
- Coptic
- relating to the Christian language and culture of ancient Egypt
- bronze
- a metal made by mixing copper and tin, often used for coins and tools
Level 3 — Intermediate
An Egyptian archaeological mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities has uncovered an entire mudbrick city at the Ain el-Sabil site in the Dakhla Oasis, part of Egypt's Western Desert, offering an unusually complete picture of urban planning during the late Roman period.
Rather than developing organically over generations, the settlement followed a deliberate layout from its founding, with broad north-south streets intersecting east-west roads to form an orderly grid punctuated by public squares and open gathering spaces.
At the city's center stands a basilica dated to the mid-fourth century CE, oriented toward one of the main thoroughfares, which appears to have functioned as the focal point of both religious observance and communal life, while surrounding residential quarters featured spacious halls, vaulted ceilings, bread ovens, and stone tools for grinding grain.
The site's defensive character is underscored by a fortress with massive walls and watchtowers guarding its perimeter, reflecting the security concerns of the empire's turbulent final centuries, and the roughly 200 recovered ostraca, inscribed in Coptic and Greek, alongside bronze and gold coins linked to the reign of Emperor Constantius II, promise rich insight into the community's daily administrative and religious affairs.
- urban planning
- the deliberate design and organization of a city's layout and structures
- organically
- developing naturally and gradually, without a fixed original design
- thoroughfare
- a main road or street through a town or city
- focal point
- the center of attention or activity in a place or situation
- vaulted
- having an arched, curved ceiling or roof structure
- perimeter
- the outer boundary or edge of an area
- ostraca
- pieces of broken pottery or stone used in ancient times for writing short notes
- administrative
- relating to the management or organization of a community, business, or government
Level 4 — Advanced
An Egyptian archaeological mission operating under the Supreme Council of Antiquities has unearthed an entire mudbrick urban settlement at the Ain el-Sabil site within the Dakhla Oasis, furnishing an exceptionally intact case study of deliberate urban planning during the twilight centuries of Roman rule in Egypt.
Rather than accreting organically across generations, as many ancient settlements did, this city was conceived according to a premeditated layout from its inception, with broad north-south thoroughfares intersecting east-west arteries to produce an orderly grid punctuated by public squares and communal open spaces.
Anchoring the city's center is a basilica dated to the mid-fourth century CE, oriented toward one of the principal thoroughfares, which evidently functioned as the nucleus of both liturgical and civic life, while the surrounding residential district featured expansive halls with vaulted ceilings, domestic ovens, and grain-grinding implements attesting to a settled, self-sufficient population.
The settlement's defensive posture is further evidenced by a fortress with formidable ramparts and watchtowers ringing its perimeter, a testament to the security anxieties pervading the empire's turbulent final centuries, while the approximately 200 recovered ostraca, inscribed in Coptic and Greek, together with bronze and gold coinage traceable to the reign of Emperor Constantius II, promise to yield granular insight into the community's administrative, economic, and devotional life.
- accrete
- to grow or increase gradually by the accumulation of additional layers or parts
- premeditated
- planned or thought out in advance, rather than spontaneous
- artery
- a major route or channel, used metaphorically for an important road
- nucleus
- the central or most important part of something around which other things are organized
- liturgical
- relating to formal religious worship and ceremony
- rampart
- a defensive wall, often part of a fortification, built to protect a settlement
- pervading
- spreading throughout and being present in every part of something
- granular
- characterized by fine, detailed distinctions rather than broad generalizations
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