3,500-year-old underground town found in Egypt

CAIRO - Archaeologists have found a 3,500-year-old Egyptian town buried under the earth in the country’s northeastern region of the Nile delta.

The city, discovered by a team of Austrian archaeologists in Tell El-Dab’a, is likely to be Avaris, the capital of Hyksos rulers who ruled Egypt from 1664 B.C. to 1569 B.C., Egyptian Cultural Minister Farouk Hosni was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Meanwhile, Zahi Hawaas, an eminent Egyptian archaeologist and secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) said radar imaging showed the outlines of streets, houses and temples of the underground town and a whole view of its urban planning.

Irene Mueller, head of the Austrian team said a Nile river tributary that was passing through the city as well as two buried islands, a port and some wells of different sizes were also found.