Editing Tanis (section)

==History==
{{Hiero|Djanet (''ḏꜥn(t)'')<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wallis Budge |first1=E. A. |title=An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary: with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, Coptic and Semitic alphabets, etc. Vol II |date=1920 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/egyptianhierogly02budguoft/page/1064 1064] |url=https://archive.org/details/egyptianhierogly02budguoft}}</ref><ref name = gauthier110>
{{cite book |last1=Gauthier |first1=Henri |title=Dictionnaire des noms géographiques contenus dans les textes hiéroglyphiques Vol. 6 |date=1929 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1929/page/n57/ 111] |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1929/}}</ref>|<hiero>I10:D36-N35:X1*O49</hiero> '''or''' <hiero>I10:D36-N35:X1*Z1-mw:N36-N21:X1</hiero>|align=right|era=default}}

Tanis is unattested before the [[19th Dynasty of Egypt]], when it was the capital of the 14th [[nome (Egypt)|nome]] of [[Lower Egypt]].<ref name=snape335>{{cite book |last=Snape|first=Steven|year=2014|title=The Complete Cities of Ancient Egypt|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-77240-9|page=335}}</ref>{{efn|Biblical archaeologist [[Benjamin Mazar]] believed that the [[Year 400 Stela]], found in Tanis and datable to the 13th century BC, can be an evidence that the site had some settlement in the 18th or 17th century BC.<ref>Benjamin Mazar, ''Encyclopedia Miqrait'', "Eretz Yisrael", p. 682</ref>}} A temple inscription datable to the reign of [[Ramesses II]] mentions a "Field of Tanis", while the city ''in se'' is securely attested in two [[20th Dynasty]] documents: the [[Onomasticon of Amenope]] and the [[Story of Wenamun]], as the home place of the pharaoh-to-be [[Smendes]].<ref name=bard>{{cite book|editor-last1=Bard |editor-first1=Kathryn A.|editor-link1=Kathryn A. Bard |title=Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt|publisher=Routledge |location=London |year=1999|isbn=0-203-98283-5}}</ref>{{rp|921}}

The earliest known Tanite buildings are datable to the [[21st Dynasty]]. Although some monuments found at Tanis are datable earlier than the 21st Dynasty, most of these were in fact brought there from nearby cities, mainly from the previous capital of [[Pi-Ramesses]], for reuse.<ref name="robins">{{cite book|title=The Art of Ancient Egypt|last=Robins|first=Gay|publisher=British Museum Press|year=1997|isbn=0714109886|location=London|pages=195–197|author-link=Gay Robins}}</ref> Indeed, at the end of the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] the royal residence of Pi-Ramesses was abandoned because the Pelusiac [[Nile Delta#Ancient branches of the Nile|branch of the Nile in the Delta]] became silted up and its harbour consequently became unusable.<ref name=bard/>{{rp|922}}

After Pi-Ramesses' abandonment, Tanis became the seat of power of the pharaohs of the 21st Dynasty, and later of the [[22nd Dynasty]] (along with [[Bubastis]]).<ref name=snape335/><ref name=robins/> The rulers of these two dynasties supported their legitimacy as rulers of [[Upper Egypt]] and [[Lower Egypt]] with traditional titles and building works, although they pale compared to those at the height of the New Kingdom.<ref>{{cite book|last=De Mieroop|first=Marc Van|title=A History of Ancient Egypt|year=2007|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|location=Malden, MA|isbn=9781405160711|pages=400}}</ref> A remarkable achievement of these kings was the building and subsequent expansions of the Great temple of [[Amun-Ra]] at Tanis (at the time, Amun-Ra replaced [[Set (deity)|Seth]] as the main deity of the eastern Delta), while minor temples were dedicated to [[Mut]] and [[Khonsu]] whom, along with Amun-Ra, formed the [[Theban Triad]].<ref name="robins" /> The intentional emulation towards Thebes is further stressed by the fact that these gods bore their original Theban epithets, leading to Thebes being more commonly mentioned than Tanis itself.<ref name=bard/>{{rp|922}} Furthermore, the new royal necropolis at Tanis successfully replaced the one in the Theban [[Valley of the Kings]].<ref name="robins" />

After the 22nd Dynasty Tanis lost its status of royal residence, but became in turn the capital of the 19th nome of Lower Egypt. Starting from the [[30th Dynasty]], Tanis experienced a new phase of building development which endured during the [[Ptolemaic Period]].<ref name=bard/>{{rp|922}} It remained populated until its abandonment in [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman times]].<ref name=snape335/><br/>
In [[Late Antiquity]], it was the seat of the [[Bishop of Tanis|bishops of Tanis]], who adhered to the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]].<ref name=SV>Siméon Vailhé, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14443b.htm "Tanis"], in ''[[The Catholic Encyclopedia]]'', Vol. 14. (Robert Appleton Company, 1912).</ref>

By the time of [[John of Nikiû]] in the 7th century, Tanis appears to have already declined significantly, as it was grouped together with four other towns under a single prefect.<ref name="MIFAO">{{cite book |last1=Maspero |first1=Jean |last2=Wiet |first2=Gaston |title=Matériaux pour servir à la géographie de l'Égypte |date=1919 |publisher=Institut français d'archéologie orientale |location=Cairo |page=116 |url=https://archive.org/details/MIFAO36/page/n69/mode/2up}}</ref>

The [[1885 Census of Egypt]] recorded San el-Hagar as a [[nahiyah]] in the district of [[Arine]] in [[Sharqia Governorate]]; at that time, the population of the city was 1,569 (794 men and 775 women).<ref name="1885 Census">{{cite book |last1=Egypt min. of finance, census dept |title=Recensement général de l'Égypte |date=1885 |page=289 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpQNAAAAQAAJ |access-date=21 June 2020}}</ref>