Pharaoh Sheshonq III‘s Sarcophagus Identified in Egyptian โฃNecropolis
TANIS, EGYPT – Archaeologistsโ have definitively โคidentifiedโข teh sarcophagus โof Pharaoh Sheshonq III within a royal tomb in the ancient city of Tanis, a โฃdiscovery hailed โฃas a significant breakthrough in โunderstandingโฃ a turbulentโ period of Egyptian โhistory. The finding,โ announced this week, resolves aโ decades-old mysteryโข surrounding โฃthe burialโ location of theโ ruler who reigned during the 22ndโ Dynasty.
The sarcophagusโ was located in a chamber previously โคbelieved to be associatedโฃ with Sheshonqโข III’s predecessor, Osorkon II.โ While the identification confirms theโ chamber’s connection โคto Sheshonq III, researchers are now investigating whetherโ the king wasโ originally buried there or if the grave goods โwere moved to the โขchamberโค later, potentially as a protectiveโ measure against tomb โคrobbers-a questionโ that couldโค reshape current understandingโ of royal burial practices during a timeโ of political fragmentation.
This discovery clarifies anโฃ vital chapter inโข theโ funerary โฃlandscape of ancient Egypt. โTanis, located in the Nile Delta, served as a crucial royal necropolisโข during the Third โฃIntermediate Period (roughlyโค 1070-664 BCE), a time marked โขby โpolitical instability and shifting power dynamics. The identification of Sheshonq III’sโ sarcophagus, alongside newly โdiscovered inscriptionsโ andโข reliefs, promises to expand academic knowledge about howโ the royalโ necropolis was reused and adapted over โcenturies.
The ongoing work โis part of โa larger preservation project focused on safeguarding the tombs of Tanis. Archaeologists are implementing measures to protect the structures from environmental damage, including installing protective coverings, reducingโ salt levels, and cleaning architectural features.This collaborative effort โbetween Egyptian and French teams builds upon a legacy of archaeological work at the site that โฃbegan in 1929.
Tanis frist captured global attention inโข 1939 with the unearthing of the “Tanis โTreasures,” a collection of royal artifacts โขcomparableโ in โคsplendor to those found in the tomb โof Tutankhamun. Theโ reappearanceโฃ of funerary โstatuettes โof Sheshonq IIIโค and the resolution of the sarcophagus mystery reaffirm Tanis’s importance as a โkey site for illuminating โฃone ofโ the least understood eras of ancient Egypt.
