Egypt has been conceived of by many as limitless desert sands, pyramids and Sphinx. Immensely desert land, a cut river band of the life-giving Nile. Rarely do we realise how important the Nile Delta, as if standing out in this scheme and bathed in green, was and still is. The Nile Delta or perhaps the Kings’ Delta...
The Delta region has never drawn a crowd of explorers. It had been said that the most interesting discoveries could be made in Upper Egypt or in the area of Memphis Necropolis because the famous pyramids near the present-day Cairo are located there. The Delta put the people off because it lacked spectacular ruins on its surface. This territory has been cut through by irrigation canal networks. It can be safely referred to as Pharaohs' store room, which Herodot himself, the father of history who came to Egypt in the 5th century confirmed by saying: "For it appears clear to every rational human being, altough s/he might not have seen but only heard of this land, that the part of Egypt into which the Helens sail (the Nile Delta) is a newly-gained territory and a gift from the River and even the land above the lake is at a distance of 3 days sailing about which priests have said nothing at all, is of the same nature." The climate here is definitely different from that in the southern part of Egypt, namely, it is colder and more humid. Most of the settlements from the times of Pharaohs lie deep in the ground under a mud layer brought by the life-giving Nile. Buildings were founded on sand "islands" (called "turtle backs") which were the only dry pieces of land during flood periods. Archaeological remnants are often located under the present sea level which undoubtedly made the archaeological research harder or even impossible. There were other obstacles, too. In 1912 Howard Carter and lord Carnarvon had started excavation works in Sakha (Ksois). Exactly, the same duo 10 years later discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen, the 62nd tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Another was identified in 2005 and was called KV 63. After two days of digging the gentlemen left the site not only put off by the poor results of their work but also by a large population of cobras and vipers hiding among reeds.
Other explorers were not looking for anything in particular and yet they were successful. And so in 1799 to the north of Rosetta (el-Rashid) during defensive works carried out on the coast in case of British landing, a group of soldiers under the command of leutenant François Xavier Borchard came across a key. This skeleton key was later used in 1822 by Jean-François Champollion to decipher hieroglyphs. The object became famous as the Rosetta stone on which one year of Ptolemeus' V reign (196 BC) was encoded in three kinds of writing (two in Egyptian - hieroglyph and demotic and one in Greek). Eventually, fortification did not prove effective and "the key" was taken over by the Britons in warfare. At present the object can be found in London British Museum. The Rosetta stone is one of the most valuable exhibits in the British Museum. It is always surrounded with a crowd of onlookers equipped with cameras
Let us go back to our findings in the Delta territory. The news on discovering gold electrifies people at every latitude. The latest spectacular discovery of a large amount of this precious metal on the area of our interest took place 70 years ago in Ancient Tanis. Apart from this unique event, there was also another important discovery made by Paul Montet, namely, the identification of royal tombs complex untouched by robbers. These were resting places of six rulers from the XXI and the XXII Dynasty: Psusennes, Amenemope (993-984 BC), Osorkon II (874-850 BC), Shoshenq III (825-773 BC). As far as the remaining two are concerned, it was impossible to identify the owners of the tombs. Interestingly enough, Shoshenq’s III silver coffin was later placed in Psusennes' tomb whereas in Osorkon's II tomb the sarcophagus belonging to Takelot II (850-825 r. p.n.e.) was found. Among numerous treasures found in the tomb complex one could distinguish: four golden masks, silver coffins, fine jewellery with plenty of golden, lapis lazuli and faience elements. Furthermore, four silver miniature coffins were identified with the ruler's organs inside. Similar discoveries have been made in Tutankhamen's tomb except that the objects belonging to the famous ruler were made of gold. All in all, there are no analogies between the relics. Unfortunately, no necessities such as stools, games, beds or clothes were brought to the light. And yet, the Pharaohs are bound to have been equipped with similar goods just before their death. In reality, the climate of the Delta is extremely harsh for objects made from organic materials. They simply mouldered away long before AD has come. The same thing applies to corpses. Alfred Lucas (a chemist who previously worked on the exploration of Tutankhamen's tomb) decided to protect Shoshenq's III remnants. They were in a very bad condition so Lucas wrapped them up in ... local newspapers and later plastered.
What stirred a great deal of controversy around the world was the discovery of a single tomb of an inferior Pharaoh in the Kings’ Delta. The results of Montet's explorations were bound to cause turmoil, however, it never happened. The question is: why? Well, unfortunately for the archaeologist, he came across the tombs in 1939 after 11 years of working in Tanis. The political situation in Europe was serious. Montet went on working in a great hurry until June 1940. He was tormented by contradictions: again and again he would come across a sealed tomb. He was thinking: "how about leaving and investigating it later under more favourable conditions?" It did not happen, though. The whole complex was examined according to king Farouk's will and not without his presence in crucial moments. Careful research was out of the question. For instance, Psusennes' rich tomb was emptied within two weeks. Under normal circumstances such works would take even more than a year.
Montet returned to Tanis in 1946 but his later discoveries did not manage to overshadow the previous ones. Tanis remains a place completely underestimated by the world's public opinion although an alternative vision of the world's history was put forward to mass audience in the 1970s. It was when Steven Spielberg in his sequel entitled "Raiders of the Lost Ark" presenting the adventures of a brave archaeologist Indiana Jones, located the hiding-place of the Ark of the Covenant precisely in Tanis. The Nazis were made responsible for carrying out the action of seizing the precious monument. What is interesting is that the operation took place in the time when Montet was indeed conducting his works... It can be said that justice has been served - Tanis is famous!
Let us go back to reality but stay by legendary cities, though. Alexandria. A city founded by and named for the Macedonian ruler, Alexander. Although the gigantic statues were earlier known to have been lying by the quay in the eastern harbour, it was not until 1944 when Jean-Yvess Empereur and Frank Goddio conducted regular research works there. They both documented their investigation and dug out a number of spectacular relics such as statues, capitals, columns, Ancient ship wrecks or granite architectural elements which might have belonged to one of the seven miracles of the Ancient World, namely, the Faros lighthouse (also known as Agii Theodori lighthouse). All the findings can be dated to the Ptolemaic period (332 – 30 lat BC.). It was a large-scale operation that engaged several archaeologists-scuba divers. As many as 300 big blocks were identified but exploring more of them was out of the question. Nonetheless, the researchers did what they usually do on an archaeological site and they prepared both a pictorial and photographic documentation, however unusual it might sound. It was an unprecedented event for the entire Egyptian archaeology.
While describing immortal discoveries in Alexandria one ought to mention the Kom el-Dikka where Polish researchers have been present for several years. The most superb fruit of their latest work constitutes lecture halls of an Ancient higher education institution dated to 5-7the century which have been referred to by their discoverer, dr. Majcherek, as "the Oxford of antiquity". It has been so far the oldest and the biggest known complex of this type from the area of Mediterranean waters.
While describing unusual research in the Delta one cannot forget about Tell el-Farkha which has been investigated by a Polish excavating mission. During the 2006 season relics of two golden figures dated to the pre-Dynastic period were identified. At present, the objects occupy the top position in Cairo Egyptian Museum. As for Tell el-Farkha, it is a subject for a yet separate article…
It appears difficult to deny the romanticism of desert sands which surround pyramids and Thebes with its Necropolis - it does appeal to your imagination. Let us not forget about the Delta which under its fertile and alluvial soil still hides treasures perhaps even more valuable than those hidden in other regions of the Land of the Pharaohs...
Translated by Agnieszka Gabor
The text was first published on www.archeologiaegiptu.pl in 2008. It is revised version.
