Friday, June 03, 2005

Treasures of Tanis

I found this a few days ago while digging about after information. Facinating! Here's a tease, so go read the rest! Archaeology Magazine features the "Treasures of Tanis."
"Millions of Americans were dazzled when the treasures of Tutankhamun toured the country in the 1970s. Now, as preparations are being made for a new exhibition, a new generation is eagerly awaiting a chance to see the boy king's royal paraphernalia. But there is another royal Egyptian treasure, from the ancient city of Tanis, in the Nile Delta northeast of Cairo, that in many ways is more spectacular yet remains virtually unknown to the general public. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, an entire complex of royal tombs was found intact at Tanis, yielding four gold masks, solid silver coffins, and spectacular jewelry, some even once worn by a pharaoh mentioned in the Bible. The treasures are one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. But because it was discovered during World War II, and published only in French, it went unnoticed. Even today, visitors to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo gather around Tutankhamun's gold mask and gawk, but walk right past the room in which the treasures of Tanis are displayed. And while everyone knows Howard Carter's name, that of the excavator of Tanis is Egyptological trivia. It's Pierre Montet.

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