CAIRO — On June 13, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery of granite stone blocks from the era of King Khufu in the Temple of the Sun, in addition to foundations from the temple’s courtyard, dating back to the New Kingdom.

The discovery happened during excavations by the Egyptian-German archaeological mission on the western side of the open museum at the obelisk of King Senusret I in the Matariya area, east of Cairo.

The discovery is "the first time that antiquities from King Khufu’s reign are discovered in this area," the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mustafa Waziri said in a June 13 statement "Those stone blocks may have been parts of an unknown building or may have been moved from the Giza pyramids area to be used as building materials during the Ramesside era, a period in which the use of stones from historically older buildings was common.”

Ayman Ashmawy, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities and head of the Egyptian mission that made the discovery, told Al-Monitor, “This discovery reflects the importance of the Matariya area, which is the most important place in ancient Egypt. The Temple of the Sun had a great historical and religious importance for all kings throughout Egyptian history, and we can say that we found antiquities that are rare to find elsewhere.”