Egyptian authorities have unintentionally discovered several historical monuments dating back to the Greco-Roman and Ptolemaic era in roughly 20 archaeological sites in the east and middle of Alexandria, which will be officially announced later this month.

The director general of Alexandria Archaeological Area, Khaled Abul-Hamd, said that these discoveries were found through dispatching Egyptian and foreign missions to examine areas that citizens want to construct buildings to ensure there are no artifacts, in preparation for obtaining a building permit from concerned authorities.

In statements to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Abul-Hamd said that these missions found evidence which led them to these monuments. He added that discoveries made through excavations are usually the beginning of successive findings.

In a related context, Abul-Hamd said that the season of archaeological excavations for 2019 will begin mid-September.

Most of the 22 Egyptian and foreign missions have received the required approvals from the security authorities and the Permanent Committee of Antiquities of the Ministry of Antiquities to complete previous excavation seasons or to work for the first time.

He added that there are seven Egyptian missions and 15 foreign missions, four of which are French.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm