Aprox 40 miles north of Cairo you can find the old city of Tanis, or Pi-Ramesse the northern city of the empire of Ramses II. Discovered in the sixties by Pierre Montet who found the undisturbed tombs of faraos of the late period, Psusennes I, Osorkon II and Sheshonq III from the 21th and 22nd dynasty.
It was Ramses II who founded this new city, and most of the buildings were created from parts and statues taken from other areas. After the collapse of the Egyptian empire in the 21st dynasty, it was Tanis which became the capital of the Northern part, while Thebes remained the residence for the south, so 4000 years after its unification the Two Lands separated again in the North and the South.
Among the finds in the tombs were the beautiful Golden Mask of Psusennes I, which is now on display in the Cairo Museum. His third sarcophagus is made of solid silver and weighs almost a ton.
His remains and that of his wife Mutnetjmet are resting in the Cairo Museum.
november 18, 2017
