Tanis, Its history and Excavations

Tanis, History and Excavations Nermine Sami Abd Elfattah 0 Contents Historical outline …………………………………………………….2 The foundation of Tanis……………………………………………..3 The important role of Tanis (politically, economically &culturally)….7 Excavation s work in Tanis……………………………………………7 Treasures of Tanis in museums……………………………………….16 Bibliography ………………………………………………………...18 1 Tanis historical outline Tanis is one of the most important cities of the Delta. It was the capital of the nineteenth Lower Egyptian Nome, Later during Third intermediate period it became the northern capital of Egypt and the royal residence of the kings of the XXI and XXII Dynasties since it was the home city of Smendes, the founder of the 21st Dynasty. It locates in the Delta about 150 kilometers north-east of Cairo, on the eastern branch of a canal which was part of the original Tanite branch of the Nile.1 Fig. 1: A map of the Delta shows the location of Tanis on eastern side, 1991 (after. MFFT, Tanis:les Pharaons de l'incertitude p. 4). It has been known by different names across ages, Djane by the Egyptians, the Zoan of the Hebrews, the Coptic Tani or Athenniks, and the modern Arabic San El Hagar, an allusion to the monumental remains of the site.2 But some opinions refers that the name Djan is derived from the middle kingdom word meaning "to catch fish" which might indicate the fact that Tanis was a centre of fishing industry due to its geographical location.3 1 Rowe, 1941, p. 82. Smith, 1854, p. 1089. 3Rowe, 1941, p. 84. 2 2 The foundation of Tanis The oldest remains in Tanis manifest the existence of the city of earlier time in old kingdom particularly the Fifth Dynasty (2392-2282 B.C.). And some blocks of stone bearing the name of Pepi I of the sixth dynasty (2282 -2117 B.C.). All the way through the latter dynasties the Asiatic gained access to Delta, they were tribes lived in the western Asia beyond the Eastern borders of Egypt, where they remained until the end of the Tenth Dynasty (2160-2025 B.C.).4 Fig. 2: Aerial photo of Tanis, Eastern Delta, 2004. (Photo by: MFFT, Th. Sagory, http://www.ephe.fr/en/research-directory/mission-francaise-des-fouilles-de-tanis-mfft.html). Under the Eleventh Dynasty (2125-2055 B.C.), the ancient Egyptians were able to expel Asiatic out of Delta to enjoy once gain their country independence. Later in the Twelfth Dynasty (1985-1795 B.C.) Many buildings and monuments were erected at Tanis which must have estimated its great importance in Delta. Amen-em-hat I, the head part of whose statue came from the site) established a temple there and also other kings of same dynasty like Sesostris I, Amen-em-hat II, and Sesostris I have all left remains, example is the four large sphinxes and twin-statues group of the Nile Gods represented as holding tables and fish.5 Once again, the Asiatic are back to control the part of the Delta during the Fourteenth Dynasty (1750-1650 B.C.), this time by Hyksos or so called shepherd kings, settled in Tanis which been called "Het-wârt" or house of thigh, probably relates to the local story that the thigh of the Osiris, the patron of ancient Egyptian gods, was buried in this site.6 4 Rowe, 1941, p. 82. Rowe, 1941, p. 83. 6 Rowe, 1941, pp. 83-84. 5 3 Het-wârt was converted by later writers into Avaris, presently Tell Dabou, which explains that Tanis probably was never occupied by the Hyksos, but during their domination(1650-1550 B.C.), they afforded refuge to the exiled kings and nobles of Memphis to this area and used the Delta in a whole as a place of strength during their war with the early kings of the New monarchy XVIII Dynasty, whose first king Ahmose I succeeded to put an end to this foreign domination and Hyksos finally departed Egypt.7 In somehow in Old Testament, Exodus:I-8, it mentions during the Hykosos era that Hebrews entered Egypt .and in Exodus 2:3-5 is commonly the marshes where Moses have been hidden were located at Tanis. However, the intent of those stories may be as spiritual as much as historical allegories, as no supporting archaeological evidence has been unearthed.8 Since the depart of Hyksos, Tanis-Avaris has been neglected from ancient Egyptians who considered it a reminder of unprofitable period of foreign occupation in their history, only buildings have been erected there nothing more than defensive construction. Until Ramses II, The great king of the Nineteenth Dynasty (1295-1186 B.C.), who followed a huge constructing project in the city, included a number of temples, obelisks and statues.9 The beginning of the Third intermediate period (1069-664 B.C.) has witnessed both political and economical weakness that was named as the period of Foreign rulers, including Libyans, Ethiopians; Assyrians and Persians. A new era led to distinguished changes in Egypt's political system, society and culture, local centers of power have arose like Tanis, played an important role in Egyptian history during the reign of the 21th and 22nd Dynasties.10 7 Rowe, 1941, pp. 83-84. Oblath, 2004, p. 18. 9 Rowe, 1941, p. 84. 10 Taylor, 2000, p. 331. 8 4 There were many attempts of The Libyans to settle or access into Egypt started during the New kingdom, they were always a threat to Egypt from its western borders, and New kingdom kings have led several military expeditions to put an end of their continuous rush through the Egyptian territory, they even have been taken as captives or mercenaries who were settled in military communities as a policy of the 20th Dynasty. However they succeeded to operate a period of weakness in late new kingdom, when some Egyptian kings have assigned some of Libyans as priests and officials in royal palace to gain power in political life.11 The death of Ramses XI, c.1069 B.C., the 20th Dynasty, has put an end to the renaissance era of Egyptian rulers, it was a catching chance for a new regime to dominate, Smendes (1069-1043 B.C.), formerly a governor of Delta and a high priest of Amun, announced himself as a king of Lower Egypt, with his capital at Tanis to declare the beginning of the twenty first Dynasty. Under the 21th Dynasty, Egypt was politically united in appearance but was ruled by two royal families, one resided in the North at Tanis, the other one was in Thebes in the South.12 Following the death of Semendes, more successors sat on the Lower Egypt throne like Psousennes I, whose burial has been found in Tanis, in his time amicable relations took place between the north and south through the intermarriage between a numbers of the two royal families' members. And by end of 21th dynasty, the Libyans strengthen their presence in Egypt and more integrated into the Egyptian society by adapting pharaonic titles and cults.13 Tanis was still the capital of the north kingdom during the 22nd Dynasty, though its first king Sheshonq I (945-924 B.C.), was originally from Bubastis which was situated southwest of Tanis, he determinedly adopted a new policy concerning the expansionist foreign policy, started a political intervention into the Levant as an act of reversion of Egyptian power there. In the Karnak temple inscriptions, he was depicted in one of his expeditions (925 B.C.) in Palestine.14 11 Taylor, 2000, pp. 338-339. Taylor, 2000, p. 331. 13 Taylor, 2000, pp. 333-334. 14Taylor, 2000, pp. 335-336. 12 5 The successors of king Sheshonq I have failed to maintain the royal control and Egypt's unity due to the rising power of provincial rulers. And the 22th Dynasty lost its prestige versus a newly established dynasty settled in Sais15, to become their capital instead of Tanis.16 Very little was known about Tanis under the reign of 23rd and 24th Dynasty, though few monuments have been erected by later kings like Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, this indicates that although Tanis lost its position as a capital but never as a provincial and commercial town.17 Tanis in Ptolemaic period has gained back some of its fame, as in the ninth year of Ptolemy III ,in 239 B.C., a copy of Canopus decree has been distributed throughout Egypt including Tanis.18It proved the city was still in consideration regarding the political issues. Not to mention its participation in some of the Christian council, Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451, as it its bishop Apollonius was present which explains its leading religious role to be part of this.19 Tanis was not even forgotten during the Arab conquest when some Arab writers of early times have described its climate as being greatly sanitary and admired its gardens. But Flooding problems occurred during the Roman occupations which led to a decline and the city was abandoned, and by the 14th century, the region was completely deserted. The current town of San al-Hagar is a little village between the tell and canal which was founded in 1821 as a result of land reclamation. 15 An ancient Egyptian town in the Western Nile Delta on the Canopic branch of the Nile, modern Gharbia governorate. Taylor, 2000, pp. 337-338. 17 Rowe, 1941, p. 86. 18 Budge, 2011, p.267. 19 Rowe, 1941, p. 86. 16 6 Its importance in antiquities Tanis presents so many monuments of interest , which is nowadays is a huge composite tell, an artificial mounds of ruins and monuments dating from the old kingdom to the roman period.20Tanis served as a parallel religious center to Thebes in the Third Intermediate Period. Tanis's creation was most likely due to the silting up of the Nile branch that ran by Pi-Ramesses, which forced people to seek another area with access to water. Later on, Tanis would become known as Thebes of Lower Egypt.21 Tanis remained as Lower Egypt's political capital, though there were sometimes rival dynasties located elsewhere in Upper Egypt, It was an important commercial and strategic city until it was threatened with inundation by Lake Manzala in the 6th century AD, when it was finally abandoned. Excavations work in Tanis Tanis was the site of numerous archaeological digs which began in the 19th century, in fact the archaeological sites in the Delta have not been of interest by Egyptologists like those in Upper Egypt because of the difficulty to dig in soiled sites, and the majority of sites were turned to be agricultural lands. The site of Tanis has been identified in 1722, first by a French priest and scholar, Father Claude Sicard, who discovered the site which was lost due to inundation. The first scientific study of Tanis was conducted in 1798 during Napoleon's expedition to Egypt. The plan of the Description of Egypt prepared by P.Jacotin informs all archaeological research during the nineteenth century, to set up a first scientific presentation of the site and draw the first topographical plan of its location.22 20 Rowe, 1941, p. 82. 2012, p. 325. 22 MFFT, 1991, p. 8. 21 Verner, 7 Fig. 3: map of Tanis, Eastern Delta, 1798. (Draw by: Napoleon's expedition,scholar P.Jacotin,from exhibition " Galeries Nationales d'Exposition du Grand Palais",1987). During 1825, a French sculptor J.J Rifaud, who was collecting Egyptian antiquities for the French Consul, Bernardino Drovetti, Rifaud carried out the first dig work in the site that led to some archeological evidence to the importance of ancient site; the most significant of his discoveries were four large sphinxes statues. However, many of the items that were found in Tanis at the time were taken to European museums like the museum of Louvre in Paris and some other valuable items were sent to Saint Petersburg.23 But the first archeologist that ever did serious excavation works in Tanis was the famous French Egyptologist, François Auguste Mariette, in the middle of the 19th century (1860-1864). 23 Verner, 2012, p. 321. 8 Shortly after the establishment of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, A. Mariette carried on the site a massive excavation, concentrated mainly in the temple of Amun. He unearthed many interesting items including a number of royal statues that date back to the Middle Kingdom.24 Fig. 4: personal photo of Auguste Mariette Bey, 1861. (photo by : Nadar , Bibliothèque nationale de France, http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bt v1b8450794x/f1.item). Fig. 5: The temple of Ammon at the time of Mariette,18601864.(photo by: Rouge,Tanis:les Pharaons de l'incertitude ,fouilles récentes dans la Thèbes du Nord, 1991, MFFT, Paris p. 12). He also stated that Tanis might have been the capital that Ramses II, Nineteenth Dynasty, has established at the eastern edge of the Nile Delta. It's presently known as Qantir which lies about 110 km northeast of Cairo and 80 km west of Ismailia, and it was called Pi Ramses. In early 2011 an excavation at the site of Qantir-Piramesse is ran by Dr Edgar Pusch, Field Director of the research activities of UCL Qatar, in co-operation of an international team based at the Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim in Germany. Nothing is left at the surface today. Most of the larger monuments were moved in ancient times to be recycled at the later capitals of Tanis/San el-Haggar and Bubastis/Zaggazig.25 24 Verner, 2012, p. 322. 25 Qantir-Piramesse-Project has been based at UCL Qatar. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/qatar/research/qantir-piramesse 9 Fig. 6: the Excavation at the site of Qantir-Piramesse (after. Qantir-Piramesse Project, UCL Qatar, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/qatar/research/qantir-piramesse). In 1866, Karl Richard Lepsius, a pioneer Prussian Egyptologist and linguist, discovered at Tanis the Decree of Canopus, a bilingual text closely related to the Rosetta Stone, which was written in Hieroglyphic, Demotic, and Greek. This discovery was valuable in proving the correctness of ancient Egyptian language's translation. The decree to be found in Tanis indicates it was really a political power base at this time.26 Shortly in 1883-1984, an English archeologist Sir.William Matthew Flinders Petrie has explored Tanis, worked for the Egypt Exploration fund. Although his conclusion about the city's origin was quite mistaken since the later archeological work proved that most of antiquities in Tanis were brought from other cities to be reused in its newly established constructions. That was due the short time and the lack of research resources which he spent, but he was able to configure the whole design of the historical site of Tanis and its temples.27 One of the most remarkable and valuable among his finds was 150 carbonized papyri which were placed in baskets and were partially burnt, but he managed to date them to the very late period.28 Its value was of the content of hieroglyphic signs, and record of places' names, calendar of festivals celebrated in them and also information on local cults and cemeteries. 26 Bard, 1999, p. 442. Verner, 2012, pp. 322-324. 28 Nicholson, 2006, p.243 27 10 Fig. 7: Flinders Petrie, 1903. (After. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie). Fig. 8: Frontal view of the reassembled sundial, BM EA 68475. (After. British Museum). In 1890-1904, The Egyptian antiquities services, presently the Ministry of antiquities, has arranged to transfer some of the most important statues from site of Tanis to be displayed in Cairo museum and to run a site projection project to preserve the treasures of Tanis.29 After the departure of Petrie, there were no much of important excavations were run in the site of Tanis, until the arrival of the famous French Egyptologist, Jean Pierre Marie Montet, whose work lasted for more than 25 years from 1922 till the 1950s. Montet was able to prove by scientific evidence that Tanis was never Pi Ramses. However in 1939 was the year of his most huge discovery, it was the royal necropolis that date back to the period of the 21st and the 22nd dynasties in Egypt, The tombs were all constructed using mud brick stones. There were also some remarkable sarcophaguses that were found in the tombs in Tanis which includes the royal coffin of Sheshonk III who ruled Egypt from 825 till 733 B.C.30 These finds there almost equaled that of Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings. A great quantity of gold and silver artifacts was also found. This discovery included golden masks, silver coffins, wooden sarcophagi covered with gold sheet, gold tableware, many bracelets, necklaces, pendants, amulets, and pectorals, which are large pieces of jewelry worn on the chest, as well as accessories. 29 30 MFFT, 1991, p. 8. Shaw, 2003, pp. 226-229. 11 Fig. 9: The team work of Tanis,on the right Pierre Montet, 1933. (After. AFAA, Tanis: L’Or des pharaons, p. 36). He was forced to stop his work when the Second World War in 1940 had threatened France and other parts of Europe. Once again he was able to resume his work in the period of 1947-1951 to unearth the temple of god Horus, the secret lake, and the temple of god Khonsou.31 Fig. 10: The excavation work at the royal necropolis of Tanis, March 1939. (After. AFAA, Tanis: L’or des pharaons). Fig. 11: aerial view of the grand temples of Tanis, 1935. (After. AFAA, Tanis: L’or des pharaons, p.24). 31 MFFT, 1991, p. 8. 12 From 1965 to 1985, J. Yoyotte concentrated his work on the northern area of the site; as He tried to repeat the analysis of the temple of Khonsu and the west bank of the Sacred Lake. In addition he organized the archives of P. Montet.32 Fig. 11: Royal tombs at Tanis.(after. http://looklex.com/e.o/slides/tanis04.jpg) From 1985 to 2013, the French society of excavations at Tanis (SFFT), under the direction of Philippe Brissaud has gradually resumed its work in all sectors opened by P. Montet and expanded its investigation to the entire archaeological area constituted by the tell. Fig. 12: Philippe Brissaud. (After http://www.babelio.com/auteur/PhilippeBrissaud/246209). 32 SFFT, site: http://www.tanis-sanelhagar.fr/index.php/historique-des-fouilles. 13 The recent work of SFFT mission concentrated mainly on four sectors; the most important was the sector of the wells of Temenos of Mut, their architectural study confirmed that the wells had been in use before and after the construction of the Sacred Lake.33 Fig. 13: Vertical view of wall area of the temenos of Mut, taken by kite, November 2012. (Photo by: MFFT / Sébastien Charrier, http://www.tanissanelhagar.fr/index.php/resultats-recents/2013) Fig. 14: General view of the Sacred Lake area, taken in June 2013. (Photo by: MFFT / Sébastien Charrier, http://www.tanissanelhagar.fr/index.php/resultats-recents/2013) And the second sector was the sacred lake of Temenos of Mut, it was completely cleared. The basin measures about 32 m from north to south and 12 m from east to west. The thickness of the walls varies between 1.50 m and 3m. It has been established that there are three adjoining buildings, probably cellars, date to the 2nd century A.D. Fig. 15: General view of the habitat area from Roman times to the northwest of Temenos of Mut, 2013. (Photo by: MFFT / Sébastien Charrier, http://www.tanis-sanelhagar.fr/index.php/resultatsrecents/2013) 33 SFFT, site: http://www.tanis-sanelhagar.fr/index.php/resultats-recents/2013. 14 Another active French mission worked in Tanis, MFFT, which was established in 1964 under the Section of Religious Sciences of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes (EPHE), and with the main support of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its main task was to follow the work result of the mission of Pierre Montet from 1929 to 1956. Fig. 16: Reconstruction of Temple of Amon. (after.https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Seb i/Restitutions#/media/File:Tanis_enceinte_Amon _elevation.jpg). Fig. 17: Pieces from the Temple of Amon at Tanis. (after. http://looklex.com/e.o/slides/tanis01.jpg) MFFT has achieved many results; the general topographic map of the site contours realized in 1984-1985 has been geo-referenced and partly corrected. A large magnetic survey was conducted in the temple of Amun, in the area known as the "Plain", on a total area of 25 hectares; it highlighted many buildings, including the pottery kilns and workshops area. The study of ceramics remains in the site has allowed dating the various districts to the end of the Third Intermediate Period, Late Period, Hellenistic Era and Era Roman-Byzantine.34 34 MFFT, site: http://www.ephe.fr/en/research-directory/mission-francaise-des-fouilles-de-tanis-mfft.html. 15 Tanis treasures in museums As it was mentioned before, a great quantity of gold and silver artifacts was found in Tanis, much jewelry like pectoral, necklaces, and ankle bracelets. In addition to gold funerary masks, Statues, sarcophagi of black granite, gold and silver, canonic jars to contain the viscera. These artifacts are mainly displayed in a number of European museums like Louvre in Paris, while the others are exhibited in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities and they are called “The Treasures of Tanis". The presence of all these objects explains the belief of the ancient Egyptians and even the foreign rulers who integrated into the Egyptian society even adopted its cult and traditions. One of the unique examples of the burial equipment, General Wendebauendjed's cups from the tomb of king Psusennes I at Tanis, Wendebauendjed was a general who served under this pharaoh during the 21st dynasty period of Egypt. His tomb was discovered by Pierre Montet in 1946.35 Fig. 18: burial equipment of General Wendebauendjed, Cairo museum. (After. http://www.flickr.com/photos/10647023@N04/2245657526/in/set-72157601684850179/ ). The cup on the left is made exclusively of silver; the one in the middle is made of gold, silver and glass paste. Finally, the cup on the right is composed of gold and colored glass paste. 35 Bongioanni, 2003, pp. 403-405. 16 The funerary mask of pharaoh Psusennes I was on display in 2007at the exhibition "Pharaoh, Man, King, God" which was held in the Museum of Fine Arts of Valenciennes, France. Fig. 19: the funerary mask of king Psusennes, Museum of Fine Arts of Valenciennes. 2007 (After. http://flickr.com/photos/laraz/2037806147/) Another example, a statue which represented the king in form of sphinx with a head of human and body of line, a preferable royal subject in Middle Kingdom art, the sphinx was made of rose granite stone, it was inscribed with a cartouche of the king Merenptah, a king of New kingdom dynasty, which indicates it was brought to Tanis to be reused in decorating the entrance of grand temple of Tanis.36 Fig. 20: Sphinx of king Merenptah, Museum of Louvre, Paris.1978 (after. AFAA, Tanis: L’or des pharaons, p.187). 36 AFAA. 1978, pp. 186-187. 17 Bibliography AFAA. (1987), Tanis: L’or des pharaons.,Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, Paris. Bard. A.K. (1999), Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, New York. Budge. E.A. (2011), Notes for travelers in Egypt, New York. Bongioanni. A. & Croce, M. S (2003), The Treasures of Ancient Egypt, New York. 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