BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Lost City Found on Egypt’s Way of Horus?

Excavations reveal temple complex, inscriptions, and links to a lost city

Inscribed sandstone blocks from Tel Abu Saify in Egypt’s eastern Nile Delta region, including the Ramesses II lintel bearing references to Horus, “Lord of the City of Mesen.” Courtesy the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

New excavations at Tel Abu Saify, in Egypt’s eastern Delta region, are shedding light on a major site along the ancient Way of Horus, a route that connected Egypt to the Levant. The discoveries include a massive mudbrick enclosure surrounding a temple, successive Ptolemaic and Roman roads leading into the complex, a sandstone lintel bearing Ramesses II’s titles and an inscription referring to “Horus, Lord of the City of Mesen,” as well as statues and other objects. The inscription provides evidence for the site’s possible identification with Mesen, a city known from New Kingdom sources, but whose location has not been established.

The earliest and most significant finds come from the reign of Ramesses II (1279–1213 BCE). Archaeologists uncovered part of a massive sandstone lintel, broken into two pieces and inscribed on three sides with the pharaoh’s titles. The inscription also refers to restoration work performed on a statue of Horus, “Lord of the City of Mesen.” The explicit reference to Mesen strengthens an earlier hypothesis that Tel Abu Saify should be identified with the ancient city.

FREE ebook: Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus.

join BAS Bible History Daily mailing list

REQUEST FREE BOOK

DOWNLOAD E-BOOK

 

Mesen may have seen a distinctive form of worship of the god Horus. Ancient Egyptian sources refer to “Horus of Mesen,” and the deity was closely associated with Tjaru, the major Egyptian fortress at the beginning of the Way of Horus. If Tel Abu Saify can be shown to be Mesen, the discovery would give archaeologists an important new anchor for understanding the religious and military landscape of Egypt’s northeastern frontier and its connections with Canaan. The Way of Horus was the principal route between the Nile Delta and the southern Levant, carrying armies, officials, and travelers (perhaps like biblical Joseph, see Genesis 37:25–28).

Excavations at Tel Abu Saify. Courtesy Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

The excavations provide a clearer picture of the site’s architecture than has been seen before. A massive mudbrick wall, previously interpreted as part of a temple, is now understood to have been the outer wall of a sacred enclosure that surrounded the temple. The wall included gates, internal rooms, and several construction layers. This updated interpretation allows archaeologists to reconstruct the site’s original plan and to trace its development through time.

During the Ptolemaic period, the temple grew to its largest extent. The team identified storage rooms on the northern side and larger service rooms to the south, extending toward the temple’s innermost sanctuary (the Holy of Holies). Two stone roads led from outside the fortifications into the temple: the earlier was Ptolemaic, and a narrower Roman road was later constructed on top. The site continued to be an active religious complex long after its pharaonic phase.

Fragment of an ancient sandstone lintel found at Tel Abu Saify. Courtesy Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

The site also had a military and administrative character. Among the finds is part of a schist statue from the 26th Dynasty depicting an army scribe carrying a broken naos, or shrine. Other discoveries include a headless and footless Late Period statue, the torso of a royal basalt statue, and fragments of limestone and basalt falcon statues.

In the third century CE, portions of the complex were reused as a Roman military barracks, or a castrum. Later, in the Late Roman period, the site became a lime-producing quarry. Two enormous circular kilns were constructed over the corners of the earlier sanctuary, where limestone was burned for reuse. The transformation illustrates how dramatically the function of the site changed—from temple to military installation to industrial complex.

The many discoveries from Tel Abu Saify reveal the site as a long-lived center at the crossroads of Egypt and the Levant. The possible identification of Tel Abu Saify with Mesen is equally intriguing, but further excavation will be necessary to finally confirm that identification.

Lauren K. McCormick is an assistant editor at Biblical Archaeology Review and a specialist in ancient Near Eastern religions, visual culture, and the Bible. She holds degrees in religion from Syracuse University, Duke University, New York University, and Rutgers University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship on religion and the public conversation at Princeton University.

Become a BAS All-Access Member Now!

Read Biblical Archaeology Review online, explore 50 years of BAR, watch videos, attend talks, and more

Related reading in Bible History Daily

New Kingdom Fortress Discovered in Sinai

Largest Known Ancient Egyptian Fortress Excavated at Tell el-Habua

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library

How Did the Philistines Enter Canaan? A Rejoinder

Let My People Go and Go and Go and Go