For centuries, the ruins of Tanis in the eastern Nile Delta concealed the long-lost burial place of the pharaohs of the Third Intermediate Period. Although the site itself had been known since the 18th century, the royal necropolis remained hidden within the precinct of the Great Temple of Amun. It was not until the late 1930s that excavations led by the French Egyptologist Pierre Montet revealed a remarkable series of royal tombs, reshaping scholarly understanding of this period of Egyptian history.
Montet’s excavations
Montet began systematic excavations at Tanis (San al-Hagar) in 1929, and spent the next decade clearing parts of the temple precinct before making his breakthrough in 1939. While working in the south-western corner of the Temple of Amun, beneath the remains of later structures, he uncovered the entrance to a previously unknown royal tomb, designated NRT-I (Nécropole Royale de Tanis). Although this tomb had been robbed in antiquity, it still contained important burials associated with the Twenty-second Dynasty, including those of Osorkon II and his son Prince Hornakht.
Montet soon uncovered another burial complex, NRT-III, which proved even more remarkable. Among its finds was the falcon-headed silver coffin of the enigmatic king Shoshenq IIa, together with a gold funerary mask and an array of precious jewellery. Nearby lay the remains of earlier Tanite rulers, including Siamun and Psusennes II, indicating that the necropolis had been reused over several generations.
