Tanis

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Djanet in hieroglyphics
D.
a 		n
,
t niwt

I10
D36 		N35
X1 Z5 		N35B N36
N23 		O49

Djanet
Ḏˁnt
Greek Tanis
Ruins of Tanis.jpg
Remains of the temple precinct

Coordinates: 30 ° 58 '  N , 31 ° 52'  E

Map: Egypt
marker
Tanis​
Magnify-clip.png
Egypt

Tanis ( ancient Egyptian Djanet ; Arabic Sān el-Hajar  /صان الحجر / Ṣān al-Ḥaǧar ) was an ancient Egyptian city ​​in the northeastern Nile Delta . The earliest finds go back to the late Ramessid period ; these are simple burials, sometimes in so-called slipper coffins . An earlier settlement has not yet been proven. It also fits that there are no text sources. The archaeological site is located in the southeast of the present-day village of San al-Hagar .

history

In older research, especially in many essays by the excavator Pierre Montet , the city was equated with Pi-Ramesse . This assumption has been proven wrong today; Pi-Ramesse is now located about 30 km south near the modern town of Qantir . It was only at the beginning of the Third Intermediate Period (1075–652 BC) that a large city suddenly emerged, which also became the capital of Egypt of the 21st Dynasty .

This is proven on the one hand by a written source of the Egyptian name of the city Djanet in the story of Wenamun . On the other hand, it has been archaeologically proven that due to the silting up of the Pelusian arm of the Nile, the abandoned Pi-Ramesse had served as a quarry for Tanis since the 21st dynasty, since construction of large temples began at this time. Newer interpretations suggest that Pi-Ramesse was actually relocated according to plan, in that the most important representative buildings were demolished and moved to the Tanite arm of the Nile to establish the new capital there.

Many rulers of the 21st and 22nd Dynasties found their final resting place here. Tanis remained an important place throughout the later Egyptian period.

buildings

Map of the temple district
The royal necropolis

temple

The Amun temple stood in the center of the city . It was started by Psusennes I and expanded in the following years. He probably also built a first enclosure wall for this facility. Siamun put a courtyard with a pylon in front of the temple, Osorkon II extended it with two more pylons. Within the temple area, some unstacked royal tombs of the 21st and 22nd dynasties (including Psusennes I) were found. In the 30th Dynasty, Nectanebo II surrounded the temple with a new wall. He also had a holy lake laid out and built a smaller temple for Horus east of the Temple of Amun . The Mut / Anta temple, which was built by Ptolemy IV . However, all dates that still come from Montet are to be questioned critically, as Montet on the one hand still believed in equating Auaris and Pi-Ramesse with Tanis and on the other hand, based on this, dated many buildings too early.

The royal necropolis

In the southwest of the temple area of ​​Amun, within the surrounding walls, are the remains of the tombs of some rulers of the 21st and 22nd dynasties. Due to the protection of the surrounding wall, some of the graves have been found untouched. Five grave complexes can be distinguished. The largest belongs to Psusennes I, who was buried here with his wife Mutnedjemet and the officials Wendjebauendjed and Anchefenmut . The kings Amenemope and Scheschonq II were buried here later . Above all, the grave chamber of Psusennes I was not stolen. Right next to this complex was that of Osorkon II , in which Prince Hornacht was also buried. The local burials were all stolen. Other, smaller graves belong to Scheschonq III. , an unknown person and King Amenemope, before he was buried next to Psusennes I. All of these graves were robbed.

Excavation history

The first excavations were carried out by Auguste Mariette in 1860 . In 1883 and 1884, Flinders Petrie continued the work, and in addition to inscriptions, strange statues and sphinxes were discovered.

Pierre Montet discovered during his excavations in the years 1939-1946 the mentioned royal tombs of Psusennes I , Osorkon II and Scheschonq III. ( 21st - 22nd Dynasty ), which are among the most important excavation finds in Egypt.

The excavation management is now with the Société Française des Fouilles de Tanis , since January 2014 under the leadership of François Leclère .

Trivia

literature

  • S. Leo Reinisch , E. Robert Roesler (Ed.): The bilingual inscription from Tanis. Braumüller, Vienna 1866, online .
  • William Matthew Flinders Petrie : Tanis. 2 volumes (= Memoir of the Egypt exploration fund. Volumes 2 and 4, ISSN  0307-5109 ). Trübner, London 1885–1888.
  • Pierre Montet : La Nécropole royale de Tanis. 3 volumes. Mission Montet, Paris 1947–1960.
  • Jürgen von Beckerath : Tanis and Theben. Historical bases of the Ramesside period in Egypt (= Egyptological research. Volume 16, ISSN  0933-338X ). Augustin, Glückstadt et al. 1951 (at the same time: dissertation, University of Munich).
  • Henri Stierlin, Christiane Ziegler : Tanis. Forgotten treasures of the pharaohs. Hirmer, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-7774-4460-X .
  • Philippe Brissaud, Christiane Zivie-Coche: Tanis. Travaux récents sur le Tell Sân el-Hagar. Mission française des fouilles de Tanis. Noêsis, Paris 1998, ISBN 2-911606-05-1 , pp. 13–70.
  • Wilfried Seipel (Hrsd.): Land of the Bible. Jerusalem and the royal cities of the ancient Orient. Treasures from the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem. (= Exhibition catalog, Vienna, September 22, 1997 to January 18, 1998) Skira, Milan et al. 1997

Web links

Commons : Tanis  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: San el-Hagar el-Qibliya  - travel guide