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The city of Tanis was once located where the modern Egyptian city of San el-Hagar sits today, on the Nile Delta. The city was known by different names, the biblical Zoan (Suan), Djanet, and Tanis to the Greeks. It was a less impressive version of the southern capital city, Thebes, eventually being known as the northern capital.

Tanis was the capital during the 21st and 22nd dynasties, relating to the Tanite kings. Hedj-kheper-re Setep-en-re (known to the Greeks as

Smendes) was the first king of this period and is thought to have later ruled as pharaoh, but details about him are few. During this period, the priests of Thebes, devoted to the god, Amun, held a great deal of political power in the south and, despite outward appearances, Egypt was not unified. Tanis, and Smendes, were probably the seat of political power in the north.

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. Although Tanis' location aided its position as a great commercial city, it was also the cause of its downfall. The waters of Lake Manzala rose, and the resulting floods eventually caused the city to be abandoned, possibly around the 6th century BC. The people of Tanis built a new city, known as Tennis.

After being abandoned, Tanis eventually disappeared beneath a silt plain, leaving little but low mounds to mark where it once stood. The site remained lost until the French archeologist, Pierre Montet, began excavations in the area in 1859. He found several sculptures which were misidentified, leading to the idea that the site was the ancient capital of Hyksos, Avaris.

In 1939, Montet discovered the first royal tomb at Tanis (known as NRT I), which was close to the south-western edge of a temple complex. The tomb belonged to Osorkon II and was a rich burial chamber. Tomb robbers had already been into the burial chamber, but there was enough evidence on the granite sarcophagus and canopic jars to identify the king. Other tombs were soon discovered, including that of Harnakht, High priest of Amun at Tanis and son of Osorkon II.

NRT II was discovered, also in 1939, close to NRT I and contained the burial of King Pimay, a 22nd dynasty king, identified via his canopic jars. In the same year came the discovery of NRT III, the burial chambers of the 21st dynasty king, Psusennes. To use Montet's words, he found himself surrounded by:

'Marvels worthy of One Thousand and One

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