CAIRO: Egyptian archaeologists have discovered the headquarters of a pharaonic army that guarded the strategic eastern border, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said on Wednesday.

The site, which dates back to the New Kingdom (1570-1070 BC), was discovered in the Sinai peninsula at the start of Horus Road, the vital commercial and military road linking Egypt to Asia, antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said.

“Studies show that the fort was the headquarters of the Egyptian army from the time of the New Kingdom until the Ptolemaic period,” the council said.

The archeologists, led by Mohamed Abdel Maksoud, have been excavating along the road since 1986. Inscriptions found this year show that this may be the first royal monument found in Sinai.

The site also contains the ruins of a fortress dating back to time of Ramses II, who ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1213 BC. —AFP