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Egypt: World's Oldest Administrative Complex Discovered

The oldest administrative building in the world was recently unearthed south of the Sphinx by an American team working on the Pyramids plateau, the Egyptian State Information Service reported on August 1, 2002. Archaeologists said that the building was a headquarters for construction foremen and supervisors responsible for work on the Pyramids of Cephren and Mycerinus.

Inside the 4,500-year-old building were found tallies of tools issued to workers and records of the number of workers on site.

Dr. Zahi Hawas, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) said the team had found the remains of a huge royal complex 500 metres south of the Sphinx and east of the workers' tombs, which had been previously discovered by an Egyptian team. Much of the building is above ground, but the remainder still lies beneath the Sphinx Sporting Club that was founded 1984.

The team found within the royal precincts a grain silo and a bakery, which is also the oldest found to date. The bakery is thought to have produced the same kind of bread that is still made in Upper Egypt.

"Utensils and dough-making equipment were found in the bakery. The team of excavators made another momentous discovery: 250 clay seals with the names of a Cephren and Mycerinus," Hawas said.

On this same site which has proved rich in arte-facts, the team found workers’ copper tools and linen clothing plus workshops for making seals and alabaster statues, and a fish store.

Accommodation for 2,000 workers and an adjacent building to probably for overseers, were among the most exciting finds, which also include a 150-metre stretch of paved road, the longest ever discovered.

“These latest discoveries confirm that there was a highly organized system of management for the building of royal pyramids,” Dr Hawas said.