San el-Hagar

The Delta city of Tanis, modern San el-Hagar, was the Late Period capital of the 19th Lower Egyptian nome, having replaced Per-Rameses (Qantir) as the royal residence of kings during Dynasties XXI and XXII. The city whose ancient name was Djanet (also called Suan - the biblical city of Zoan), was known as Tanis by the Greeks and represented a city similar to the southern capital, Thebes, but in miniature. Today the city takes the form of a mound of rubble, covering a surface area of almost 180 hectares but has revealed what is certainly the largest and most impressive site known in the Delta with a wealth of very important monuments still being uncovered.