Archaeologists have found a huge ad on the rocks near the Egyptian village of El Hawi. Symbols convey a message related to space. “These rock carvings at El Hawi represent some of the earliest and largest signs since the formation of hieroglyphic writing and show how the ancient Egyptians invented their literacy,” says Yale professor John Darnell. He led the expedition and announced the discovery together with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, Live Science reports.
Archaeologists have also found other drawings depicting a herd of elephants. One of the adult elephants was painted with a baby elephant in the abdomen, which is probably how the ancient artist represented a pregnant female. The drawings were created between 4000 and 3500 BC. e.
The symbols on the "main board" are about 70 cm high. One of the hieroglyphs represents the head of a bull on a short pole - a symbol found in other Egyptian writings. He symbolized royalty in the formation of the stages of the Egyptian state, Darnell says.
The other three signs are storks with their backs to each other with an ibis between them. Archaeologists believe that the stork - ibis - stork signs convey "a message about the universe through the solar cycle." Together, the four symbols add up to a statement about the superiority of royalty over an ordered cosmos. Darnell clarifies that "the inscription was clearly visible from afar, so it was seen by travelers heading to the city of El-Kab."
Elena Yakovleva