Ancient Ship Repair Workshop Discovered in Sinai

Cairo, Feb 13 (Prensa Latina) Egyptian archaeologists discovered in northern Sinai the remains of a workshop for ships construction and repair during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, announced on Wednesay the Ministry of Antiquities.

The secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, noted that the excavations took place at the Tel Abu Seify archaeological site; the place allegedly was the location of the Roman fortress of Silla.

Waziri detailed the workshop includes two dry dockyards where boats were built or repaired.

The workshop unfortunately lost its function over time after the Nile branch passing through the area dried up, so some blocks were removed from the site for use in the construction of other buildings.

Remains of wooden beams, shipwrecks, bronze and iron nails of different sizes were found, as well as fish bones and clay pots inside the site.