A statue of Buddha has been discovered at an ancient Egyptian site near the Red Sea, Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said on Thursday.
American and Polish archaeologists discovered the statue in Berenice, an ancient port city in the southeast, it said.
The 71-centimetre statuette, dating from the Roman era, depicts a robed Buddha missing his limbs on the right side, with a halo surrounding his head, representing the sun's rays, according to a photo released by the ministry.
The find reveals important trade links between the Roman Empire and India, the Egyptian authorities said.
Egypt was "at the heart of the trade route linking the Roman Empire to many parts of the ancient world," said Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Ships arrived from India, loaded with spices, jewellery, textiles and ivory.
Egypt regularly announces archaeological discoveries, with some experts seeing them more as a tool for tourism promotion than as finds of historical interest.
The country is trying to recover its crucial tourism sector, which suffered greatly from political instability following the 2011 revolution, then from the Covid-19 health crisis and finally from the war between Ukraine and Russia, the home countries of many of the tourists that visit Egypt.
