Montet's destination was Tanis in the northeastern corner of the Nile Delta.
Tanis was a very remote site at the end of a very long track set in alandscape that looks like the surface of the moon. When Montet eventuallyreached the remains, his hopes were high of finding a spectacular lostworld.
So what do you think is that?
Looks promising.
Tanis went beyond Montet's wildest dreams. Though the ancient Nile had longsince gone, everything else about the site fitted the clues for Ramesses'slost city, Pi-Ramesse. Everywhere he looked, he found half-buried monumentsof Ramesses the Great.
Ra-Messe-Shu marry Amon, the one born of Ra beloved of Amon. We've been herefive minutes. I've already seen this cartouche in what, three separateplaces?
This was one of the vital clues needed to confirm whether this truly was Pi-Ramesse.
Montet's initial trip to Tanis left him in no doubt that Ramesses II's lostcity lay buried beneath his feet.
I will send word to Cairo: We've got an awful lot of work ahead of us.
But this site would become famous for reasons far stranger than Montet couldever have imagined. The remains at Tanis secured Montet's name in the worldof Egyptology. Within a few years, he established a full-time excavationsite. And under his leadership, the work became an obsession. |