Archaeologists have discovered a massive, magnificent tunnel that is being dubbed a "geometric miracle" beneath a temple in the ancient city of Taposiris Magna, which is now a ruin on the coast of Egypt.
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities took to social media to share this news. They informed that the structure was found 13 meters (43 feet) below the surface and was discovered by Kathleen Martinez of the University of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and colleagues during ongoing excavations and exploration of the temple. A remarkable 1,305 meters (4,281 feet) of sandstone had been hacked through to create the 2-meter-tall tunnel.
"Preliminary studies suggest that the architectural design of the discovered tunnel is very similar to that of Greece's Jubilinos Tunnel, but longer, describing it as an geometric miracle," the ministry said in a statement. However, the Taposiris Magna temple's archaeology is complicated since some of it is submerged beneath the Mediterranean Sea and has seen multiple earthquakes over the years.
Dr Mustafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Archeology, added that during the excavations and archaeological survey of the tunnel, a part of the tunnel was discovered submerged under the Mediterranean water and a number of pottery vessels and pottery tractors were found under the mud sediment. A rectangular block of limestone and a blind completion was also found there.
According to Live Science, Ms Martinez, who has been working in Taposiris Magna since 2004 in search of the lost tomb of Cleopatra VII, believes that the tunnel could be a promising lead.
In an interview with National Geographic, Ms Martinez expressed her conviction that the tunnel might guide her to the tomb of Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen, and her lover Mark Antony. The Dominican archaeologist acknowledged that the likelihood of this happening is just one percent, but insisted that it would still be "the most important discovery" of the century.
