CAIRO --French excavators working at an archaeological site in San el-Hagar (Tanis) in the Delta Governorate of Sharqia have unearthed hundreds of painted limestone blocks that were once used in the construction of King Osorkon II's temple. Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass on Monday stated that early studies on the site revealed that the blocks had been dismantled and reused in the construction of edifices during the late Ancient Egyptian period and the Ptolemaic era. "These carved blocks could have been used to build a temple or a great building," Hawass said in a statement. He promised that, after unearthing all the blocks, the archaeological team would study the blocks and reconstruct them into their original form in order to establish whether they had formed a temple or a chapel. French archaeologist Philip Brousseau, the head of the French mission, claims the newly discovered blocks were reused in the construction of the enclosing wall of goddess Mut's sacred lake. In his report, Brousseau wrote that cleaning 120 blocks revealed that 78 of them were skilfully painted and decorated and two of them bore the names of the kings Osorkon III and IV respectively. Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, an aide to Hawass, said that the discovery was “very important” because it will add to the history of a great archaeological site in Lower Egypt. At San el-Hagar, he explained, monuments are displayed from the Ramesside period that were once transferred in antiquity from King Ramsess II's capital Pi-Ramsess (Qantir) in the Delta. It also has monuments that can be dated to the Graeco-Roman and Ptolemaic eras. Abdel Maqsoud stated that the Ministry of Antiquities is now developing the site to make it more tourist friendly. A visitor centre will also be installed at the site as well as a museuological warehouse. San el-Hagar was known as Tanis during the pharaonic era. It is one of the oldest Egyptian cities and contains many temples belonging to the god Amun. In 1939 French Egyptologist Pierre Montet discovered a collection of royal tombs and a treasure known as the Tanis treasure, now on display at the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo Al Tahrir Square. It includes gold jewellery inlaid with precious stones and funeral masks.
