The joint archaeological team of the Mentu Temple in Luxor, Egypt announced on the 24th that a previously unknown remains of a sacred lake building have been successfully cleared from the site of the Mentu Temple in Karnak, Luxor Province, Egypt. According to the archaeological team, the newly discovered holy lake covers an area of over 50 square meters and is a well preserved ancient artificial water storage facility with a clear structure. It, together with the holy lake of the previously known Temple of Mengtu, forms a unique layout of the north and south holy lakes standing side by side within the walls, and is therefore also known as the South Holy Lake. The Holy Lake is an essential component of ancient Egyptian temple architecture and is considered a sacred water source, exclusively used for rituals within the temple. The discovery of two holy lakes in the same temple area is the first in the history of Egyptian archaeology, filling the gap in Egyptology and Egyptian history. South Holy Lake is also the only holy lake in the history of Egyptian archaeology that has undergone systematic scientific excavation, providing us with valuable first-hand information and samples for studying ancient Egyptian holy lakes. ”Researcher Jia Xiaobing, the Chinese general manager of the joint archaeological project of the Mengtu Temple in Luxor, China, said. This discovery is truly rare and the result of years of hard work by the joint archaeological team. ”Hande Ali, a member of the joint archaeological team from Egypt and the chief inspector of the Mengtu Temple, told reporters that the four walls of Nansheng Lake are made of large-sized sandstone stones, and the foundation is well preserved. There is a stone step on one side of the east wall, which leads to the bottom of the lake and is used by ancient priests to fetch water. After 8 years of field excavation work in the Osiris Temple area, a joint archaeological team successfully excavated the complete architectural structures of the second to fifth Osiris Temples, and unearthed dozens of Osiris statues of different sizes and materials, as well as multiple stone fragments related to the late Egyptian saintly women. This provides new archaeological evidence for further restoring the history of the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes (now known as Luxor) under the reign of the Holy Maiden of the 25th to 26th dynasties. The Temple of Mengtu was first built around 1391 BC to 1355 BC. The total area of the Mengtu Temple Site is approximately 106000 square meters, of which the temple area within the walls covers approximately 24000 square meters. As of now, the joint archaeological team has excavated a total area of approximately 2300 square meters. Since 2018, the first Sino Egyptian joint archaeological team jointly established by the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Relics has officially carried out archaeological excavation and research work at the Temple of Mengtu. The project has received strong support from the Zhengzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in Henan Province and the Institute of World History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. (New Society)