A former military castle that experts think served as a gate to Egypt's eastern border protecting it from the Persians 2,600 years ago has been unearthed.
Discovered in North Sinai, the fortress is believed to date to 664-610 BC in the Psamtik era - the last before the Persian invasion in 525 BC.
Photos released from the dig reveal a number of items including metal arrow heads, stone daggers and figurines.
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An Egyptian archaeological mission has discovered remnants of a military castle (pictured) that dates back to Psamtik era from 664-610 BC in North Sinai province
The building was discovered by an Egyptian archaeological mission and has been dated to almost three millennia ago, a hundred years before the Persian invaded Egypt.
According to Mr Hussein, it has encountered serious attacks that destroyed most of its buildings.
The remnants indicated two castles on the site and it's thought the main castle which has 16 towers was built on the structure of an unfinished construction.
During the excavation work, some rooms for the soldiers who were tasked with securing the castle were found.
Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in a statement: 'The mud brick-constructed castle that belonged to the 26th dynasty is the oldest historically,'
He added that the 85-meter-long southern wall of the castle was built on a structure of another unfinished castle.
Discovered in North Sinai, the fortress is believed to date to 664-610 - the Psamtik era - the last before the Persian invasion in 525 BC. The photo above shows metal arrow heads discovered at the castle's excavation site in Sinai
The remnants of two castles were found and it's thought the main castle with 16 towers was built on the structure of an unfinished construction that came before. The above pictures released by Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities shows an aerial views of the excavation
In a post on Facebook by the Ministry of Antiquities, the government agency said that it had located a tower previously standing on the north-East corner and the remains of the South-East Corner Tower, as well as parts of a southern wall.
'So far, the excavation works are completed to discover the remains of architectural installations inside the castle,' the post said.
'This is the historic castle that the mission revealed on its eastern wall in 2008 and was built on the ruins of this castle
