CAIRO: The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has described the discovery of hieroglyphics near the Saudi oasis of Taima as an “important event confirming all the theories and historical facts about ancient Pharaonic Egyptian history”. The Pharaonic hieroglyphic inscriptions at Taima, discovered four months ago but first announced Sunday by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), bear a royal signature double cartouche of King Ramses III who ruled Egypt between 1,192 and 1,160 BC. They are the first hieroglyphic inscriptions found in the Kingdom. “The Pharaohs extended from south Sudan to north Iraq after the defeat of the Hexus, and the discovery of such antiquities in that area is no surprise to Egyptian scholars,” said secretary general of the SCTA Zahi Hawas. “Inscriptions like those are only natural in the Arabian Peninsula given that the ancient Egyptians came from the same family that Ramses III belonged to, and who were known for their power and interest in armies and trade campaigns to other countries.” Hawas said that after the victory of Ahmas and Dahr and the defeat of the Hexus tribes, Ramses and the kings that followed expanded the Egyptian empire to stretch from south Sudan to north Iraq, passing through the Arabian Peninsula and the Sham countries in the north. Taima, located 400 kilometers north of Madina and northeast of the Nabatean site of Madain Saleh, is one of the Kingdom's largest archeological sites with ancient wall remnants almost 13 km long and artifacts recovered revealing a history dating back 4,000 years to the Bronze Age Saudi archeologists have traced a direct trade route between the Nile Valley and Taima used during the era of Ramses III when caravans are believed to have carried goods and materials such as incense, copper, gold and silver.
