Using advanced satellite LiDAR technology, a team of international researchers has uncovered the sprawling remains of a previously unrecorded administrative and industrial city in Egypt’s Western Desert. Dating to the reign of Amenhotep III, the city features residential quarters, a grand palatial administrative block, and a massive solar-aligned temple dedicated to the Aten.
The discovery, dubbed the 'City of the Sun', provides the first evidence of a large-scale permanent settlement in this arid corridor. Preliminary ground surveys have already yielded copper-working tools and specialized pottery kilns, suggesting the site was a vital hub for desert trade and resource management during the peak of the New Kingdom.