Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth a Marble Aphrodite, a Pharaoh’s Cartouche and a Roman Basilica, All in One Ancient Egyptian City

The collection of artifacts represents the layered history of Ehnasiya, an ancient Egyptian capital that became the Roman city of Heracleópolis Magna

Sonja Anderson | Daily Correspondent

June 11, 2026 10:40 a.m.

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Near the western banks of the Nile in northern Egypt, archaeologists discovered a collection of treasures shaped by ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt. They include a marble head from a statue of Aphrodite, remains of a Roman basilica and a pharaoh’s cartouche.

According to a translated statement from Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the artifacts come from the site of Ehnasiya el Medina—an ancient city also known by its Roman name, Heracleópolis Magna.

Ehnasiya’s history stretches back millennia. According to the statement, it acted as Egypt’s capital during the ninth and tenth dynasties, between about 2118 and 1980 B.C.E. One of the artifacts found during the recent dig is a stone block carved with the cartouche—a symbol representing a name—of pharaoh Senusret III. He reigned nearly 4,000 years ago, between about 1837 and 1819 B.C.E., during the 12th dynasty of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom period. The inscribed stone also lists Senusret’s coronation date, birth names and the cartouche of Osiris Na Rief, a locally favored deity.

A few centuries after Senusret III’s rule, Egypt entered its New Kingdom period—the domain of pharaohs like Amenhotep I, Ramses II and Tutankhamun. The prosperous period’s decline began with the murder of Ramses III, who historians call the last “great” pharaoh. He was succeeded by weaker kings, the last being Ramses XI, whose death in around 1077 B.C.E. marked the end of ancient Egypt’s golden era. Then the empire split in two, and foreign rulers moved in, one after the other.

“Once the Kushite [Nubian] kings took over, that was really the end of Egypt as an independent power,” archaeologist Eric Cline, author of 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed, told History’s Dave Roos in 2022. “Then the Assyrians came in, followed by the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans and then Islam. If you’re talking about ancient Egypt being a power unto itself and being ruled by Egyptians, it was never the same again.”

In the fourth century B.C.E., Alexander the Great invaded Egypt with an army of Macedonians and Greeks, taking control from Persians. Egypt became part of Alexander’s empire, and in 323 B.C.E., one of his generals, Ptolemy I Soter, became its king. The following Ptolemaic Dynasty was extremely wealthy, and it firmly Hellenized Egypt—soaking the empire in the art and religion of the ancient Mediterranean.

One remnant of that period of cultural melding is the marble head just unearthed at Ehnasiya. Measuring about 10 inches tall, it depicts Aphrodite, Greek goddess of beauty and love. The precisely executed features, including her curling locks, reflect a typical Classical style, says archaeologist Mohamed Abdel-Badie, head of the antiquities department at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, in the statement.

The researchers’ other discoveries date to Egypt’s next era: its Roman period. Ptolemy I Soter’s descendants ruled for centuries, and the last was queen Cleopatra VII. The first Roman emperor, Octavian—also known as Augustus—defeated her army and annexed Egypt in 30 B.C.E. After that, Ehnasiya became Heracleópolis Magna, or the “Great City of Heracles.” It explains why the site possesses remains of an ancient Roman basilica—a hall used for public assemblies or legal proceedings. The researchers also found Roman-era wall statues and ceramic molds likely used to mint the coins circulated around the massive Roman Empire.

These artifacts reflect Ehnasiya’s status as one of the most significant cities of ancient Egypt, reports Samy Magdy for the Associated Press.

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Sonja Anderson is a daily correspondent for Smithsonian magazine who covers art, archaeology and culture, from newly discovered artifacts to the latest art heists.