• Geography

  • Tanis City

    • Tanis ruins
    Tanis Temple     		Location Lower Egypt - port city in the northeast Delta
    It lies on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, which is currently silted up.
    Nome19th nome of Lower Egypt Royal child - the 19th Nome of Lower Egypt
    Type of SettlementCapital City
    Local deityThe holy triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu.
    This triad was identical to that of Thebes.
    Ancient nameDjane by Egyptians
    Zoan by Hebrews - the Biblical city from which the Exodus began
    Contemporary nameSan El-Hagar
    Historical Development- Founded around the time of the 20th Dynasty in the new Kingdom
    - Capital city of the 21st and 22d dynasties in the Third Intermediate Period, when Egypt was divided between North and South.
    - The Tanite rulers brought existing statues and monuments from elsewhere in Egypt to build and decorate their capital, that was characterized by an eclectic reuse of materials that were usurped from other locations and earlier reigns.
    - The city became an important port for Asiatic trade, and a centre of textiles manufacture
    - However, to due flooding problems, it declined during the Roman period, and by the 14th century, the region was deserted.
    NecropolisThe necropolis is inside the main temple walls and contain 21st and 22nd Dynasty tombs of Osorkon 2, Psusennes I, and Shoshenq 3, which were built of stones removed from other sites.
    The artifacts from the Tanis necropolis are the most important source of knowledge covering royal funerary goods of the Third Intermediate Period.
    Monuments- The Great temple
    1. The building is approached from an avenue bordered by carved stone blocks and fragments of colossi of Ramses 2
    2. The Gate of Shoshenq 3, has no foundation and is made from carved blocks removed from other sites
    3. The outer mud brick wall built during the 30th Dynasty.
    4. The temple of Horus - inside the outer walls
    5. The inner mud brick wall built by Psusennes I
    6. Inside the remains of the inner walls, there are small fragments of the temple complex of Amun.
    7. On the south-western side of the Great temple, is a smaller shrine dedicated to Mut and Khonsu, where the Asiatic goddess Astarte was also worshipped.
    8. The famous Four Hundred Year Stela