LUXOR, Egypt, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- As Egypt and China mark 70 years of diplomatic relations, recent discoveries by an Egyptian-Chinese joint archaeological mission in the heart of Luxor offer a vivid testament to how "culture and history can speak a common language," an Egyptian antiquities official has said.
The Egyptian-Chinese archaeological mission announced on Saturday that after two years of meticulous clearance and documentation, it has uncovered a previously unknown sacred lake, along with other artifacts, at the Montu Temple precinct in the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor, a city renowned for its rich monuments in southern Egypt.
The discoveries illuminate ancient ritual life while showcasing a modern model of international cooperation, Mohamed Abdel-Badie, chairman of the mission and head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
He said that the newly discovered sacred lake is notable for being previously unrecorded and is located within Karnak, the largest religious complex in Ancient Egypt.
Abdel-Badie stressed that the mission's success was "neither quick nor easy."
Muddy layers in the delta, rocky terrain, and varying groundwater conditions present constant geological challenges, he said, adding that within Luxor, differences in soil composition and moisture require tailored approaches.
Chinese technological expertise proved decisive, Abdel-Badie said, noting that the Chinese team introduced advanced digital applications, including photogrammetry tools that dramatically improved documentation accuracy.
Where traditional methods once required 2,000-3,000 photographs taken under identical environmental conditions -- a near-impossible task given shifting sunlight and wind -- new applications enabled precise 3D rendering and scaled drawings with far greater efficiency, he explained.
The team also employed a subsurface investigation technique based on the Luoyang shovel, a traditional tool uniquely developed in Chinese archaeology, which allows the identification of buried rocks, walls, staircases, and architectural remains prior to excavation.
"These methods reduced risk, saved time, and guided excavation strategies," Abdel-Badie added.
Importantly, the cooperation flowed both ways, according to the Egyptian official.
Egyptian archaeologists shared their expertise in Egyptology and fieldwork with their Chinese counterparts. In return, the Egyptian experts traveled to China to receive hands-on training in the latest technologies.
"The result was a true exchange of expertise, not a one-sided transfer," Abdel-Badie added.
Beyond the excavation work, the mission reflects a broader philosophy, he said, that cooperation between Egypt and China is inevitable, driven by the weight of two great ancient civilizations and by contemporary global conditions.
Since the first Chinese archaeological mission arrived in Egypt in 2018, cooperation has expanded rapidly. Today, five Chinese missions operate across different Egyptian sites, he said.
"In a world marked by conflict and exclusion, the language of culture and history," he argues, has proven more enduring than the language of violence. ■
