The lost city of Tanis

[crystal sage]

As there seemed to be no reference to this ancient city here at this forum.. I thought to include it for further exploration.. it appears to have been quite important..

Tanis is situated within modern Zaqaziq, a city in the Nile Delta. Tanis is the Greek name of the ancient city “ Janet “, now is known as “ San El-Hagar “, which means the place of stones because of the huge number of stones in the area. (About 160km from Cairo).

The first time to be mentioned was through the 20th dynasty, later in the 21st dynasty, it became the northern capital of Egypt. Many monuments can be seen at the area as the city wall, royal cemetery, the temple of Ramses the second, the sacred lake (the only one in Delta temples) and many obelisks most of them are broken or laid, due to earthquakes and soil movements. Some of the obelisks that were found there had been transferred to other places such as the one located at Cairo airport

Tanis was also a city of commerce, largely due its excellent position on the Nile Delta. It was a center for textile manufacture and the chief port for Asiatic trade.

Amongst the fabulous discoveries made in NRT III were a silver coffin, a gold mummy board and golden face mask, but more treasures were yet to be discovered. When work at the site restarted in 1943, led by Alexandre Lezine, another chamber was discovered with the undisturbed burial of Wendjebauenjed, a soldier, buried with jewels and more burial finery.

This excerpt is interesting from this random site.. http://roselinedavinci.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/was-dundreich-hill-well-where-jesus-met_13.html

Zoan was according to the Bible is a city of Egypt in the eastern Nile Delta. Numbers 13:22 says Zoan was built seven years after Hebron was built. Psalm 78:12,43 identifies the "field of Zoan" as where Moses performed miracles before Pharaoh to persuade him to release Israel from his service. The fields of Zoan are thus considered to be another name for the Land of Goshen.

Tanis was known by many names. Ancient Egyptians called it Djanet, and the Old Testament refers to the site as Zoan. Today it's called Sân el-Hagar.

references to Zoan existing previously as early as the time of Abraham are taken to mean the old Hyksos capital at Avaris and the nearby Ramesside capital of Pi-Ramesses, about 25 km. from the site of Tanis.

http://www.egyptological.com/2012/03/documentary-overview-the-vanished-capital-of-the-pharaoh-8099

[crystal sage]

This bit is intriguing

Horse toilets! They took mules that are about the same size as the horses and one did them the favour of urinating directly into the hole. The building stabled at least 460 horses. Stabling on such a large scale indicated that this was part of a military complex. Horses were now the mainstay of a pharaoh’s army. The strange objects were explained by comparison to ones found on a chariot from the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Cairo Museum – knobs like that connected with yolk of the state chariot. Thousands of stone knobs would have held together harnesses of the war chariots of Ramesses II. The chariot garrison was the right size for that of the lost city.

The team next turned to technology to determine if they had indeed found Piramesse. They used an electro-magnetic scanner to read traces underground. No-one was expecting very much from the scans but they produced amazing results – the outlines of a building just a few centimetres below the surface of the ground. Since that first day they have scanned 2 square kilometres around the area and have revealed, for the first time in 1000s of years, the vast ancient foundations of Piramesse, including a building, probably a temple, that covers more than 41,000 square metres and has a sequence of rooms which each have symmetrically arranged columns.

http://www.egyptological.com/2012/03/documentary-overview-the-vanished-capital-of-the-pharaoh-8099

[crystal sage]

and

Napoleon Bonaparte took an interest in the site of Tanis and had the area surveyed in the late 1700’s. 2 large pink granite sphinxes were taken from the site, which became part of the Louvre collection. Other statues were sent to St Petersburg, Berlin and Alexandria.

Auguste Mariette was the first to truly excavate the site and his work here lasted from 1860 to 1864. Whilst excavating the site, he discovered the famous Four Hundred Year Stela in addition to many royal statues. However, Mariette mistakenly identified the site as the Hyksos capital of Avaris. He also believed that the site could have been the location of Ramses II’s residence – Pi-Ramses.

http://www.egypt-uncovered.com/features/egypt-tanis.php

[crystal sage]

Land of Moses ? "Psalm 78:12 an 13 locates the events of the exodus 'in the fields of Zo'an (Tanis),

Pentateuch's narrator understands that Zo'an and Hebron were in existence in the 3rd millennium and certainly no later than the 2nd millennium B.C. when the Exodus is stated to have occurred.

Psalms 78:12 & 42-43 suggest to some commentators that God's miracles wrought on Egypt via Moses, who apparently personally confronted Pharaoh, occured in "the fields of Zo'an":

http://www.bibleorigins.net/zoananachronisms.html

"In the sight of their fathers he wrought marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zo'an...They did not keep in mind his power, or the day he redeemed them from the foe; when he wrought his signs in Egypt, and his miracles in the fields of Zo'an. He turned their rivers to blood...They did not keep in mind his power, on the day when he redeemed them from the foe; when he wrought his signs in Egypt, and his miracles in the fields of Zo'an."

Some viewers may not be aware that in aniquity the Nile flooded the whole Delta annually, thus settlements were made on elevations which stood above the floodwaters. These elevations are called in Arabic Geziras/Jeziras, meaning "islands" for they become islands when the innundation occurred. This means that Israel during her 400 year captivity in Egypt, dwelt on "islands." The site of biblical Rameses in Egypt is also a cluster of "islands" identified with modern Qantir and Tell ed-Dab'a.

[crystal sage]

Some more... http://www.ask-aladdin.com/Egypt-Sites/ancient_egyptian_sites/san_el_hager.html

The second archeologist that explored Tanis was Petrie, an English Egyptologist that excavated Tanis in the end of the 19th century. He was able to configure the whole design of the historical site of Tanis and its temples. Moreover, some of the findings of Petrie are now put on display in the British Museum in London.

[Skithia]

Didn't Petrie think he had found Tanis only for it to turn out he had found the stones and statues of Tanis but they had been moved back in antiquity - most likely by the priest/pharaoh that was the occupant of the silver sarcophagus?

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

I thought Tanis was made up for Indiana Jones...

[crystal sage]

I thought Tanis was made up for Indiana Jones...

Nope... it's for real !!!

[kmt_sesh]

Didn't Petrie think he had found Tanis only for it to turn out he had found the stones and statues of Tanis but they had been moved back in antiquity - most likely by the priest/pharaoh that was the occupant of the silver sarcophagus?

I thought Tanis was made up for Indiana Jones...

It was used to great effect in Indiana Jones. A lot of historians liked the setting of Tanis for the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, because Tanis was the capital of Egypt in the Third Intermediate Period. This was when, in Dynasty 22, Sheshonq I was supposed to have invaded Jerusalem and taken away the treasures of the Temple and palace. Sheshonq I is remembered in the Old Testament as Shishak (see 2 Chronicles 12). Whether or not this investing of Jerusalem even happened, the producers of Indiana Jones made good use of it.

To your point, Skithia, Petrie and other archaeologists digging at Tanis believed early on that they had found the city of Piramses, which is what they were hoping to find. Also of biblical fame (see Exodus 1:11), Piramses was the capital of Egypt in the mid- to late New Kingdom. It was founded by Ramesses II (a.k.a., the Great). However, it wasn't understood till later that the Libyan kings who founded Tanis as their capital in Dynasty 21 had cannibalized a lot of the monuments at Piramses. It ws quicker, easier, and cheaper to reuse the masonry monuments erected earlier by Ramesses II in his capital city. Piramses was eventually found, and it turned out to be almost on the same site as Avaris, the principal capital of the Hyksos pretenders back in the Second Intermediate Period.

Tanis is indeed an interesting archaeological site. It remained a very important city until the Late Period, when Sais (also in the Delta) became the capital.

[Skithia]

Ahh thanks - I knew I had seen something about looking for the lost city and it having to do with Tanis

Wasn't there something unusual about Merenptah being high priest and pharaoh too?

edit for spelling

Edited September 6, 2013 by Skithia

[crystal sage]

Now NASA believe they have discovered it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRVHyhuX8jo

[Oniomancer]

You're digging in the wrong place.

Ancient Bubastis is right next to modern Zagazig. Tanis however is 44 miles away.

[jaylemurph]

I thought Tanis was made up for Indiana Jones...

...that's just what the Hebrews thought.

--Jaylemurph

[crystal sage]

You're digging in the wrong place.

Ancient Bubastis is right next to modern Zagazig. Tanis however is 44 miles away.

oops !!!

[crystal sage]

You're digging in the wrong place.

Ancient Bubastis is right next to modern Zagazig. Tanis however is 44 miles away.

I misread... thought you said ancient Buddhists ... so.... http://ees.ac.uk/research/Tell%20Basta.html

[kmt_sesh]

I misread... thought you said ancient Buddhists ... so.... http://ees.ac.uk/res...Tell Basta.html

The ancient Buddhists of Bubastis: now that would be something.