The village of Sheikh Ubadah, Minya Governorate, in Upper Egypt, witnessed a great controversy over the existence of the Prophet Yusuf prison inside the village.
There are rumors among the residents of the village that there is an archaeological area belonging to the place where the Prophet Joseph was imprisoned, located under a Roman temple located on the outskirts of the village.
According to the Egyptian newspaper, Al-Watan, one of the villagers said that his grandfather told him about the truth of the wreckage that the Italian mission had found during archaeological excavations inside the village. He assured him that these remains belong to a Roman temple built on the ruins of the prison in which the Prophet Joseph was imprisoned.
He continued, “We all know that the place here was the prison of our master Joseph, but when the Roman Empire came, it obliterated all the landmarks and built a port and a temple on them.”
Archaeological researcher Ahmed Amer said that the village of “Sheikh Ubadah” is one of the important cities from ancient Egypt to the Islamic era. All the periods that Egypt passed through are present in this place, as it is considered an ancient Roman city located on the eastern side of the Nile between “Akht Aten” And “Hermopolis”, the city was founded by the Roman Emperor “Hadrian” in 130 BC, in order to perpetuate the memory of his dear friend “Antinos”, and the city was called “Antinopolis”, and indeed it was built on the ruins of an ancient Egyptian city called “Har-Ur”. It was built by King “Ramses II” during the era of the New Kingdom.
The village of “Al-Aziziyah” belongs to the “Al-Aziz” palace (the title of the first minister of Egypt, Potiphar bin Ruhaib, in the era in which Prophet Joseph lived during the time of the Eighteenth Pharaonic Dynasty around 1350 BC, according to unconfirmed biblical and historical accounts).
The village also includes his wife’s bathroom, “Zuleikha” (Ra’el bint Ramayel) and the granaries known as “Tal Al-Aziz,” according to the book “Subhi Al-A’sha in the Insha Industry” by Ahmed bin Ali Al-Qalqashandi, which was reviewed by the Anatolia Agency correspondent.
As for the prison in which it is rumored that the Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him) was placed, and it was the scene of the incidents of interpretation of the vision, it is found in “Busir”, which also includes the Musa Mosque, which is attributed to the Prophet Musa bin Imran (peace be upon him).
It is difficult to enter these landmarks, especially what is known as “Youssef Prison”, and the reason is due, as a policeman among the guard teams deployed in the place told Anatolia, to instructions from the Ministry of Antiquities that “the prison is not qualified to visit,” he said, refusing to give his name because he is not authorized to authorize the media..
However, an employee in the “Saqqara Archaeological” area to which the site belongs – he also refused to give his name for the same reason – gave a brief description of the prison, saying that it is “a wooden booth, the lower half of which is broken and demolished, and two palm trees are drawn on it, above which is a sign with verses from Surat Yusuf.”
He added: “Inside there is nothing but a shrine covered in green and plastic fabrics under a large piece of old stone and below it is a basement entrance, which leads to a large, very neglected room.”
A number of residents of the village and the neighboring villages come to the vicinity of the “prison” to seek blessings and supplication to God, believing that this place will answer prayers, according to a common expression in this village.
The villagers circulate stories that seem strange, but they reinforce this belief, including that “thieves stole animals owned by farmers in the village, and when they passed in front of the prison at night, they could not move until the people woke up the next day and arrested them.”
Certainly, some of them told the Anatolia correspondent: “The prison is guarded by a huge snake.” And they added: “The snake attacked a number of those digging for antiquities below the place.”
