Nectanebo I was the founder of the 30th Dynasty: the last native Egyptian royal family to rule ancient Egypt before Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 B.C., Archaeologist Sherif el-Sabban told The Cairo Post Tuesday. Aiman Ashmawy, from the Ministry, said part of the statue discovered depicts King Merineptah of the 19th Dynasty presenting an offering to a deity. The finds were unearthed at the site of a sprawling and extremely important temple from Heliopolis, Egypt's most ancient capital city, known in ancient Egyptian as Lunu.
– Researchers have made an impressive find in Cairo: part of a chapel built by a pharaoh some 2,300 years ago, Phys.org reports. That pharaoh was King Nectanebo I, whose reign lasted from 379 to 360 BC, daijiworld.com reports. The chapel, part of a temple site in the historic area of Heliopolis, includes "carved basalt blocks" and a statue, Egypt's antiquities ministry says. The sculpture portrays King Merineptah, who was the son of King Ramses II of the 19th dynasty. Nectanebo, of the 30th, was part of the final native family in charge before Alexander the Great took control of Egypt, the Cairo Post notes. "Historical evidence suggests the pharaoh came to power by overthrowing Nepherites II, his predecessor and the last pharaoh of the 29th dynasty," an archaeologist tells the Post. Stones from such ancient sites make for unusual discoveries, especially since many were used in work on Cairo during the 1300s. But archaeologists expect the rest of this particular chapel in Heliopolis Temple to emerge during the next season, the International Business Times reports. (A study recently revealed the horrible death of another pharaoh.)