Ancient Egypt is one of the four ancient civilizations, leaving us with countless historical legends, some of which have been verified by experts in archaeological discoveries. For example, historical records record that there was a fish as large as a man in ancient Egypt, which has not been believed for a long time, but it was not confirmed until the ruins of the Egyptian Golden City were discovered. What kind of fish is it? Below, let xiaobian reveal the secret to you.
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In early 2020, Egyptian archaeologists visited Luxor, during which they discovered a site from the Ancient Egyptian period in the desert, about 100 kilometers from the city. According to local villagers, the site has existed for a long time, and in recent years, because of frequent sandstorms, the ruins and broken walls of some sites have been exposed, coupled with poor protection, many areas have been seriously damaged. Experts are very sorry for this, so they immediately protected and studied the area, and through measurements determined that its area is about 110,000 square meters, which is also the largest ancient city site found so far, and its age can be traced back to 3,000 years ago.
For ancient Egypt 3,000 years ago, experts will habitually call it the "Golden Age", because ancient Egypt in this period has developed in various fields, and there have also been far-reaching pharaohs, such as Ramses, Tutmos and Tutankhamun, just like the grand Tang Dynasty of our ancient feudal dynasty. For this reason, the ruins of the ancient city found in Luxor are also known as the "Ruins of the Lost Golden City".
After more than a year of excavations, experts have also made many discoveries in the ruins of the Golden City, such as the excavation of house ruins, temple ruins and some tombs, as well as living pottery, stone statues and gold jewelry, and even well-preserved mummies. Archaeologists have said that the ruins of the Golden City are a huge treasure house, and the excavation of cultural relics has also allowed people to have a deeper understanding and understanding of the "Golden Age", especially the key is that the experts found a large fish recorded in the historical materials, which also proved that the ancients at that time did not scribble.
In September 2021, when cleaning up the site, experts found a house foundation with an area of about 20 square meters, and cleared a large number of animal skeletons under the sand layer, as well as some bottles and cans, as well as a lot of cooking utensils, so it was speculated that it was a kitchen site. The most critical thing is that at the end of the cleanup, experts also found dried fish, at first only the tail was exposed, but later after cleaning up, it turned out that this was not an ordinary dried fish, but a mummified dried fish about 3,000 years old, and no similar dried fish had been found before. In addition, the size of the dried fish also surprised experts, it is about 1.6 meters long, if it is still alive, it is like a giant.
A few days later, the huge dried mummified fish was transported back to the museum, and after intensive research, fish experts finally determined that it was the same species of fish as the modern Nile perch, belonging to the sharp-billed perch family. Experts say the sharp-billed perch is extremely widespread in Africa, with Nile perch found in waters such as the Nile, Congo and Lake Turkana. It is worth mentioning that although the Nile perch is a freshwater fish species, it is a carnivorous fish with a certain degree of aggression, especially the adult Nile perch, which can grow up to more than 2 meters, and can almost no natural enemies in freshwater basins. As a result, today's Nile perch is also an invasive species that has damaged the ecology of lakes in many areas.
In later studies, experts said that the giant fish recorded in the historical records did exist, but it should have been very rare at the time, so it was mummified and preserved at that time. In the face of this dried fish, experts also imagined that it was difficult to catch such a large fish with the current fishing tools, how did the ancients catch it at that time? Presumably, it must also be a difficult "vicious battle". However, we should feel very fortunate that the ancients did not unload it and cook it and eat it, otherwise we would have lost a rare treasure today. In today's Luxor region, Nile perch is usually cut into sections and sold at the market, and although it is made in simple ways, such as steaming and boiling, it is still a delicious dish and the aroma is mouth-watering.
However, there is a point, the Nile perch is only suitable for growing in the Nile, once it goes to other places, it will basically eat other fish, so this Egyptian native fish, although it has survived in the Nile for a long time, it is best not to leave here, because it is a disaster everywhere.
In the past few years, the ruins of the Golden City have been the focus of attention of experts, according to recent news reports, the excavation scope of the Golden City ruins is only one-tenth, and there are large areas buried under the desert, so in the near future, the Golden City ruins must also have more discoveries, let's all wait and see.
Resources:
"History of Ancient Egypt" by George Rowlingson, Publisher: China Pictorial Publishing
Wenlan Hairun Studio Editor-in-Chief Wen Xiucai, this article is written by: Special History Writer: Liu Lijiang's