Greco-Roman Bath Complex, Coin Depicting King Ptolemy III And Other Artifacts Found In Egypt’s Gharbia Province

AncientPages.com - Egypt Today reports that an Egyptian archaeological team led by Saeed El-Asal of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, has unearthed parts of a huge red brick building, dating back to the Greco-Roman era.

The building, which is probably part of a Greco-Roman bath complex, is approximately16 meters long, was found during excavations carried out at San El-Hagar archaeological site in Gharbia governorate, informed Ayman Ashmawi, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Ministry of Antiquities.

Bronze tools, pottery vessels, terracotta statues, a stone fragment engraved with hieroglyphs and a small statue of a ram have also been excavated at the site.

According to Saeed Al-Asal, head of the mission, the most important discovered artifact is a gold coin of King Ptolemy III. One side of the coin depicts a portrait of King Ptolemy III wearing the crown and the other side is the Land of Prosperity surrounded with the name of the king.

The coin was made during the reign of King Ptolemy IV (244-204 B.C) to commemorate his father.

King Ptolemy III Euergetes I, the “Benefactor”, the third sovereign of the Ptolemaic dynasty from Macedonia, who ruled over Egypt from 246 BC to 221 BC.

He succeeded his father when he was about forty years old. To avenge the murder of his sister
Berenice Syra and her son, he invaded Syria and captured Babylon. He developed Egypt's naval forces and expanded his territories by a marriage with Berenice of Gyrene.

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