Abstract
AN archæological discovery described as “exceptionally important” is reported from the ancient city of Tanis in the Sharkia Province of the Nile Delta (The Times, March 20). Prof. Montet of Strasbourg, who has been engaged for some years in excavating on the site, on which both Mariette Pasha and Sir Flinders Petrie carried out archæological investigations, has discovered the first gold coffin to be found in Egypt since that of Tutankhamen, and a silver sarcophagus, the first example in that metal from Egypt. Tanis was the capital of Egypt between the Thirteenth and Eighteenth Dynasties; but the present find was made in excavating a series of funerary chambers of the tombs of kings of the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Dynasties (1100-950 B.C.), the capital of which was Tell Basta, the site of the modern Zagazig. Hitherto there has been no certain knowledge of the residence of these kings. The funerary chambers wore empty, but a few days ago a narrow corridor was found leading to a wall which, when pierced, gave entry to an intact chamber of medium size, built of white limestone, and containing a gold sarcophagus. Within this sarcophagus was a second of silver, in which was a mummy. Inscriptions show that it is that of King Shishak. Two human skeletons still wearing ornaments were found on either side of the sarcophagus; and there were many jewels among the remains. In one corner of the tomb were funerary statuettes representing King Cumin, and in another corner a large vase, which has yet to be opened.
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Archæological Finds in the Nile Delta. Nature 143, 512 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/143512b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/143512b0