Ramses II’s Capital Found With Sensors

CAIRO —  Using magnetic sensors and computers, Egyptian experts have located and mapped an important Pharaonic city in the Nile Delta, officials said Tuesday.

Ahmed Gouda Husain of the Geophysical Research Center said the experts have been able to create detailed images of Qantir, which was a capital of one of Egypt’s most famous kings, Ramses II.

Ramses II, a pharaoh in the so-called New Kingdom era, ruled Egypt from 1304 to 1237 BC.

“It’s a complete town with all its palaces, houses, streets and stables,” Husain said.

Husain said the team he heads has been using magnetic sensors to survey the city, which also served as the capital of the Hyksos invaders for nearly 100 years.

He said surveying the city--covering half a square mile of cotton, corn and wheat fields--took about 45 days.

The team used specialized equipment to measure electrical impulses and magnetic levels, Husain said.

Husain, a geophysicist who has worked in archeology for 15 years, said the team later put the readings into a computer to generate images of the city.

Qantir, 75 miles north of Cairo, is covered with sandy mounds that archeologists believe hide a number of Pharaonic sites.

Gaballah Ali Gaballah, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council for Antiquities, said it will take at least 20 years of excavation to unearth the main sections of the city.