Five-story underground temple with 15m water-filled moat

Debating the Age of Egypt's Osirion (Raiders of the Past Podcast)
Source: Debating the Age of Egypt's Osirion (Raiders of the Past Podcast) by Luke Caverns

Site mentioned

📍 Osirion at Abydos

The Osirion at Abydos features a central island surrounded by a permanent moat filled with mysterious water that cannot be drained. Water continuously replenishes from sources within the structure itself—an unusual phenomenon in the desert where 'there shouldn't be water coming out of the desert.' The structure maintains unusually cool temperatures in its underground chambers.

Key facts

  • The central island structure extends five stories deep underground
  • The moat surrounding it is 15 meters (50 feet) deep
  • The walls descend 15 meters below current ground level
  • Modern pumps cannot remove the water as it replenishes from a 900m deep ancient aquifer
  • The structure acts as a thermal battery maintaining a cool underground chamber
  • The water is 100% not Nile water but ancient paleo water
  • The water has been tested and found to be drinkable

Related stories

Sources

Osireion - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
The Osireion (or Osirion) is believed to be the cenotaph of Seti I, located to the rear of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, Egypt.
The Osirion at Abydos: The Ancient Egyptian Temple Still Defying ...marahouseluxor.com
The Water Problem We Do Not Yet Understand. One of the Osirion's most striking features is the water that permanently fills it, and refuses to ...
Secrets of the Osirion | Who Built Egypt's Biggest Megalithic Temple?thearchaeologist.org
The remarkable Osirion at Abydos in Egypt is officially dated to the reign of Seti I, during the New Kingdom period, ruling c.1294 or 1290 BC to 1279 BC.
The unexplained Osireion: Ancient Egypt's most mysterious structurehistoryskills.com
At the centre of the Osireion, a stone platform stood isolated within a trench of dark water, while twelve enormous granite pillars surrounded the space.
Archaeologist Probes Hidden Depths in Egypt's Osireion - In-Situin-situ.com
“Somehow water is emerging from inside this structure,” says Westerman. “That's unique. There shouldn't be water coming out of the desert, ...
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