The ancient Egyptian town at Tell Edfu was found remarkably intact, but even its settlement layers show traces of quarrying from farmers searching for materials to make fertilizers at the turn of the 20th century.

The damage, however, missed much of the large town center, a trade and government hub containing a number of rectangular mud-brick structures.

Some of the buildings served as storage cellars and were built with a thick ash layer that helped to deter rodents and insects, according to experts who announced the discovery of the town on Jully 1, 2008.

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