Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered rare rock-cut tombs and additional remains of a Roman military camp at Tell el-Yahudiya, an ancient site in the Nile Delta with a significant connection to Jewish history.
Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery on Saturday, following continued excavations by an Egyptian archaeological mission at the site in the Qalyubia Governorate, north of Cairo.
According to the ministry, archaeologists discovered a number of tombs carved into the rock and belonging to several different architectural styles. The excavation also further exposed the remains of a Roman military camp located in layers above the tombs.
Hisham El-Leithy, Secretary-General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the tombs were particularly significant because rock-cut burials are rare in the Nile Delta due to the region's predominantly clay soil.
Artifacts discovered inside the tombs helped archaeologists date them to the end of Egypt's New Kingdom, with the burial complex continuing to be used into the Late Period, according to the Egyptian announcement.
Archaeologists identified two principal types of tombs. One features a staircase leading into a hall containing burial niches, while the second consists of a rectangular shaft leading to two burial chambers.
Egyptian officials said the discovery could shed additional light on the development of burial practices in the eastern Nile Delta.
The newly uncovered tombs themselves have not been identified as Jewish and date from centuries before the well-documented Jewish presence associated with the area.
The location of the discovery, however, gives it particular significance for Jewish history. Tell el-Yahudiya literally means "Mound of the Jews," and archaeological research has documented a substantial Jewish community in the area during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Historian Dorothy Thompson, writing in the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, noted that the cemeteries at Tell el-Yahudiya produced a large collection of Greek epitaphs, more than half of which contain names regarded by scholars as distinctly Jewish.
The site has also long been associated with the "Land of Onias" and the Jewish Temple of Onias in Egypt.
The ancient Jewish historian Josephus described a Jewish temple established in the Heliopolite nome during the Ptolemaic period by Onias, a member of the family of the High Priests in Jerusalem. According to Josephus, the temple remained in use until it was closed by the Romans following the Great Jewish Revolt.
Scholars have long connected Tell el-Yahudiya with the Jewish settlement associated with Onias. The precise location of the Temple of Onias itself, however, has not been definitively established.
The University of Oxford's Griffith Institute archive records excavations carried out at Tell el-Yahudiya by archaeologist Édouard Naville in 1887 and preserves material from his subsequent publication, "The Mound of the Jew and the City of Onias."
Egyptian authorities stressed that Tell el-Yahudiya was occupied during numerous periods. The site was particularly important during the Hyksos period and continued to be used during the Greek and Roman eras.
The newly discovered Roman military remains above the much older tombs provide further evidence of the site's repeated use over many centuries, Egyptian antiquities officials said.