tanis

tanis
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Tanis is the Greek name of ancient Djanet, modern San el-Hagar - an important archaeological site in the north-eastern Delta, and the capital of the 19th Lower Egyptian nome in the Late Period. It lays on the Tanitic branch of the Nile in the delta, which is now silted up and is a bleak and desolate place. Throughout virtually the last two millenia, the open plain surrounding the sprawling mound of remains has been populated only by roaming herds of wild boar and the occasional transient Bedouin encampment.
It was the home city of Smendes, founder of the 21st Dynasty. During the 22nd dynasty (also known as the Libyan or Bubastite dynasty) Tanis remained as 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.

The principle excavations at Tanis were carried out in 1860-1880 by Auguste Mariette, then in 1883-1886 by Flinders Petrie, and in 1921-1951 by Pierre Montet. The site is still currently being studied by archaeologists.

The earliest recorded building at Tanis dates to the reign of Psusennes I (1039-991 BC) from the 21st Dynasty, who constructed a huge mud brick enclosure wall which surrounds the Temple of Amun.

Later rulers of the 21st and early 22nd Dynasty added to the temple complex. On the south-western side of the site beyond the temple enclosure, is a smaller temple dedicated to Mut and Khons, where the Asiatic goddess Astarte was also worshipped.

In 1939, with Europe on the brink of war, and during his 11th year of excavations at Tanis, French Egyptologist Pierre Montet literally struck gold. On 27th February, he found the tomb of a king, identified by inscriptions as Osorkon II. There were several rooms, but they had all had been plundered. Despite this, there still remained a fabulous quartzite sarcophagus for Osorkon's son, Takelot II, together with shabtis, abaster jars and other objects.

When the tomb was cleared, Montet discovered another, undisturbed adjoining tomb. The wall inscriptions mentioned Psusennes I, and lying on the floor was a hawk-headed solid silver coffin. When the coffin was opened it revealed a solid gold face mask and exquisite gold jewellery. This was clearly the burial of a pharaoh, but the inscriptions showed that it was not Psusennes I as the tomb had indicated, but instead a previously unknown king called Sheshonq II. With silver coffins and jewellery that rivalled that of Tutankhamun's, these formerly little known northern kings were perhaps not the weak rulers of the Third Intermediate Period, as had been previously thought.

Pierre Montet discovered six royal tombs altogether - the occupants of two of the tombs are unknown, but the remaining ones belonged to Amenemope, Osorkon II and Sheshonq III. Not only had the tomb of Psusennes I also contained the hawk headed silver coffin of Sheshonq II, it had also contained the coffin and sarcophagus of Amenemope. In addition, the tomb of Osorkon II also held the sarcophagus of Takelot II. Montet had stumbled inadvertently, but perhaps not unexpectedly, upon a veritable necropolis of Third Intermediate Period kings, surrounded by heaps of burial equipment.

Treasures from Tanis

The artifacts from the Tanis necropolis are the most important source of knowledge covering royal funerary goods of the Third Intermediate Period. The treasures are displayed in their own room in the Cairo museum. Just a small selection of these wonders are profiled below:

Golden bracelet inlaid with a scarab	Hinged bracelet featuring the wadjet eye, one a pair of seven that were placed on the mummy of Shoshenq II. Gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, white faience.	Pectoral scarab jewel discovered on the mummy of Shoshenq II. Gold, lapis lazuli, green and red faience.
Gold pectoral with solar barque motif. Gold, lapis lazuli and glass paste.	Golden sandals for the mummy of Shoshenq II	Gold pectoral with inlays of glass paste and multicoloured stones was found around the neck of the mummy of Sheshonq II.
The amazing sold gold funerary mask of Psusennes I	The golden funerary mask of Shoshenq II	The golden funeral mask of General Wendebauendjed

Known tombs from the Tanis necropolis

Tomb ID:	Main occupant:	Dynasty:	Other occupants:
NRT 1	Osorkon II: Possibly usurped from Smendes. Osorkon was buried in a granite sarcophagus with a lid carved from a Ramesside period statue. Only some debris of a hawk-headed coffin and canopic jars remained in the robbed tomb to identify the king.	22nd	Harnakht, Osorkon's young son.
			Takelot I was buried in a Middle Kingdom sarcophagus in a redecorated chamber of the tomb with of burial equipment inscribed for Osorkon I.
			Another chamber contained the remains of a reburial of Shoshenq III.
			There is the possibility that Shoshenq V was also subsequently buried in NRT I, identified by his canopic equipment.
NRT II	Pami/Pimay: Roughly constructed tomb, set alongside Osorkon II's tomb. Identified by his canopic equipment.	22nd	None
NRT III	Psusennes I: Probably the most exciting tomb. Five chambers containing reburied mummies, and concealed behind a decorated wall was the burial chamber of Psusennes I, completely  undisturbed. Within a granite sarcophagus that had once belonged to Merenptah, was a granite coffin that held a solid silver coffin, a gold mummy-board and a solid gold mask that covered the face of Psusennes. Around the sarcophagus were canopic jars, shabtis, and other burial goods.	21st	Amenemope encased in a coffin of gilded wood and placed in a sarcophagus prepared for Queen Mutnodjmet, mother of Psusennes II.
			Siamun
			Psusennes II
			Shoshenq II in a silver falcon headed coffin.
			General Wendebauendjed, a military man, along with jewellery, burial equipment and a fine gold mask.
NRT IV	Amenemope: Although it was built for Amenemope this tomb contained nothing but a beautiful sarcophagus with an inscription recording the king's name (his body and funerary cache were placed in NRT III).	21st	None
NRT V	Shoshenq III. Buried in a sarcophagus that was originally a 13th Dynasty lintel.	22nd	Shoshenq IV: his sarcophagus was found alongside that of Shoshenq III.
NRT VI	Unidentified	21st/22nd
NRT VII	Unidentified	22nd

The discovery of the burials at Tanis was one of great importance and significance, throwing much light onto a previously unknown period and its rulers. Their tombs were furnished with a considerable Amunt of equipment in the form of vessels and precious metals, shabtis and canopic jars and exquisite pieces of jewellery. The quality of the burial goods demonstrated craftsmen and metalworkers of equal technical capability as those seen in the tomb of Tutankhamun. Prior to their discovery, it would probably not have been considered plausible for rulers of the Third Intermediate Period to have been capable of amassing such riches.

However, in the classic twists and turns of Egyptology, the burials probably raise more questions than they answer. They are extremely confusing, and have proved a daunting task to interpret. We do not know precisely when the tombs were re-opened in order to rearrange the burial places of the kings, and we are left with a bewildering mass of diverse objects and incomplete caches of burial goods. There seems to have been a hurried relocation of royal bodies, possibly for security purposes, in very much the same way as the priests had done at Deir el-Bahri, Thebes.