Ptolemaic

In the northern Sinai Desert, archaeologists have made a remarkable discovery. At a site known as Tell Abu Saifi, they unearthed the ruins of an ancient Egyptian fortress, accessed by an elaborate tree-lined entrance that featured more than 500 planting circles. This dramatic landscape, dating back over 2,000 years to Egypt’s Ptolemaic and Roman eras, is providing archaeologists with unprecedented insights into Egypt’s eastern defensive system, while also revealing more about their landscape modification practices. Recent excavations by Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities uncovered the fascinating clay-rimmed planting circles, which flanked a durable limestone-paved road leading directly to the fortress gates from a Roman structure that resembled a castle. Though the exact climate conditions of the ancient Sinai Desert