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Avaris (Egyptian
Egyptian language

Egyptian is a branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages language family along with the Chadic languages, Berber languages, Semitic languages, Cushitic languages and possibly Omotic languages languages....
: , Hatwaret, ), was located near modern Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta
Nile Delta

The Nile Delta is the River delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas?from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers some 240 km of Mediterranean coastline?and is a rich agricultural region....
. As the main course of the Nile migrated eastward and the delta sedimented up and moved with the river, its position at the hub of Egypt's delta emporia made it a major administrative capital of the Hyksos "Phoenician kings" and other traders. From c 1783-1550 BC or from the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt
Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eleventh , Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Middle Kingdom of Egypt....
 through the second intermediate until its destruction by Kamose brought to a close the Seventeenth dynasty
Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt

The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period....
, Avaris brought a little bit of Canaan home to Egypt.






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Avaris (Egyptian
Egyptian language

Egyptian is a branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages language family along with the Chadic languages, Berber languages, Semitic languages, Cushitic languages and possibly Omotic languages languages....
: , Hatwaret, ), was located near modern Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta
Nile Delta

The Nile Delta is the River delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas?from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers some 240 km of Mediterranean coastline?and is a rich agricultural region....
. As the main course of the Nile migrated eastward and the delta sedimented up and moved with the river, its position at the hub of Egypt's delta emporia made it a major administrative capital of the Hyksos "Phoenician kings" and other traders. From c 1783-1550 BC or from the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt
Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eleventh , Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Middle Kingdom of Egypt....
 through the second intermediate until its destruction by Kamose brought to a close the Seventeenth dynasty
Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt

The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period....
, Avaris brought a little bit of Canaan home to Egypt. After being abandoned for most of the Eighteenth dynasty
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth Dynasty is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt. As well as a number of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, it included Tutankhamun, whose tomb, uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922, was one of the greatest of all archaeological discoveries, being completely undisturbed by tomb robbers....
, a royal summer residence for Ramesses II was built nearby during the Nineteenth dynasty
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, New Kingdom....
.

Overview

The site at Tell el-Dab'a, covering an area of about 2 square kilometers, is in ruins today but excavations have shown that at one point it was a well-developed center of trade with a busy harbour catering to over 300 ships during a trading season. Artifacts excavated at a temple erected in the Hyksos period have produced goods from all over the Aegean
Aegean civilization

Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece and the Aegean Sea. There are in fact three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland....
 world. The temple even has Minoan
Minoan civilization

The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. The Minoan culture flourished from approximately 27th century BC to 1450 BC; afterwards, Mycenaean Greece culture became dominant at Minoan sites in Crete....
-like wall paintings that are similar to those found on Crete
Crete

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the List of islands in the Mediterranean largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km? ....
 at the Palace of Knossos
Knossos

Knossos , also known as the Knossos Palace is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political center of the Minoan civilization and culture....
. A large mudbrick tomb has also been excavated to the west of the temple. where grave-goods
Grave goods

Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods....
, such as copper swords, have been found.

Towards the end of the Seventeenth dynasty
Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt

The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period....
, Kamose
Kamose

Kamose was the last king of the Thebes, Egypt Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt. He was probably the son of Tao II the Brave and Ahhotep I and the full brother of Ahmose I, founder of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt....
, the last king of the Seventeenth dynasty
Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt

The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period....
, captured Avaris just before the Hyksos were finally expelled from Egypt by Ahmose
Ahmose

Ahmose is an Ancient Egyptian name meaning "The Iah is born" or "Child of the Moon". In Hebrew, however, the meaning would be "The brother of Moses" ....
, the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth Dynasty is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt. As well as a number of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, it included Tutankhamun, whose tomb, uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922, was one of the greatest of all archaeological discoveries, being completely undisturbed by tomb robbers....
 after a water-borne siege. The Hyksos capital was razed to the ground in the aftermath of the Egyptian triumph. Avaris was abandoned after the Hyksos expulsion throughout most of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth Dynasty is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt. As well as a number of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, it included Tutankhamun, whose tomb, uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922, was one of the greatest of all archaeological discoveries, being completely undisturbed by tomb robbers....
. In the Nineteenth dynasty
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, New Kingdom....
, Ramesses built a palace nearby. Evidence has also been unearthed in Avaris that shows contact between early Mediterranean civilizations.

Etymology of the name

Hatwaret means "house of the department" and denotes the capital of an administrative division of the land. Both t's in the word were silent and it was vocalized something like "Hawara", which is the same name (even today) as the site at the entrance to the Faiyum, which in ancient times was also called Ha(t)ware(t) and Auaris.

Pi-Ramesses

In the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, New Kingdom....
, Avaris regained its past glory when Pharaoh Ramesses II founded his new capital at this old site. The city was now called Pi-Ramesses Aa-nakhtu, meaning "Domain of Ramesses II, Great in Victory", though it previously served as a summer palace under Seti I
Seti I

Menmaatre Seti I was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt , the son of Ramesses I and Queen Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. As with all dates in Ancient Egypt, the actual dates of his reign are unclear, and various historians claim different dates, with 1294 BC – 1279 BC and 1290 BC to 1279 BC being the most commonly used by scholars today...
.

The decision by Ramesses II to transfer his government and official residence this far north from Thebes
Thebes, Egypt

Thebes was a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile . It was the capital of Waset, the fourth Upper Egyptian Nome ....
 may have been caused by geopolitical reasons. The troublesome Egyptian vassal states in Philistia lay much closer as did the border with the hostile Hittite empire. Intelligence and diplomats would reach the Pharaoh much quicker. The main corps of the army were also encamped in the city and could quickly be mobilized.

Pi-Ramesses flourished for a century and poems were written over its splendour. The demise of Egyptian authority abroad during the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt
Twentieth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, New Kingdom. This dynasty is considered to be the last one of the New Kingdom of Egypt, and was followed by the Third Intermediate Period....
 made the city less significant and it was largely abandoned by c.1130 BC onwards as a royal residence. When the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt
Twenty-first dynasty of Egypt

The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period....
 established their capital of Lower Egypt at another site called Tanis
Tanis, Egypt

Tanis , the Greek language name of ancient Djanet , is a city in the north-eastern Nile delta of ancient Egypt. It lies on the Tanitic branch of the Nile ....
 in the Egyptian Delta to the north-west of Pi-Ramesses, stone from the abandoned Ramesside temple in Pi-Ramesses was reused and recycled for the creation of great new temples at Tanis by the 21st Dynasty kings. The Pharaohs of the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt
Twenty-first dynasty of Egypt

The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period....
 also transported many old Ramesside obelisks, stelas, statues and sphinxes from Pi-Ramesses to Tanis. The changing waterways of the Nile river Delta likely also have made the site less accessible for river transports.

The removal of the monuments of Pi-Ramesses to Tanis led early archaeologists to erroneously identify Tanis as the site of Pi-Ramesses, based on the "masses of broken Ramesside stonework [which] were visible in the ruins of San el-Hagar (ie. Tanis). However, more recent and thorough excavations at Tell el-Dab´a and Qantir have identified the true site of both the Hyksos capital Avaris and the Ramesside capital Pi-Ramesses. In recent decades, the site has been excavated by an Austrian team of archaeologists, headed by the Austrian Egyptologist, Manfred Bietak
Manfred Bietak

Manfred Bietak is an Austrian archaeology. He is the current Professor of Egyptology at the University of Vienna and Director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Cairo....
.

The discoveries here include the foundations of palace buildings, temples, arsenals, storehouses, and tombs. Pi-Ramesses was spread over a vast area of about 18 square kilometers, or 6 kilometres long by 3 kilometres (2 miles) wide, according to the latest estimates. This makes it one of the largest cities of ancient Egypt.

Biblical Ramses

The place name Ramses (Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
: ?????????, Tiberian: ), sometimes Raamses or Ra'amses, occurs five times in the Tanakh
Tanakh

The Tanakh is the Bible used in Judaism. The name "Tanakh" is a Hebrew language Acronym and initialism formed from the initial Hebrew alphabet of the Tanakh's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim - hence TaNaKh....
: Genesis 47:11; Exodus
Exodus

Exodus is the second book of the Jewish Torah and of the Christian Old Testament. It tells how Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness to the Mountain of God Sinai....
 1:11, 12:37 and Numbers
Book of Numbers

The Book of Numbers, , is the fourth book of the Torah, the Tanakh, and the Old Testament. In the Greek language Septuagint it is called Arithmoi, or Numbers....
 33:3,5. The Septuagint equates this name with the Egyptian name Ramessu, hellenizing it as Hramessę (Greek
Koine Greek

Koine Greek is the popular form of Greek which emerged in post-Classical antiquity . Other names are Alexandrian, Hellenistic, Common, or New Testament Greek....
: ?aĩess?, ), whence Latin Ramesses, whence traditional English.

The location is synonymous with Goshen
Land of Goshen

The Land of Goshen is a place-name mentioned in the Bible story of Joseph . The Septuagint renders the name as Gesan , and Artapanus of Alexandria as Kessan , like the Egyptian ....
 (Kessan in the Septuagint
Septuagint

The Septuagint , or simply "LXX", is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the 3rd century BC and 1st century BC in Alexandria....
, Egyptian Pa-Kes, Greek Phacusa, modern Faqus), the land where Joseph
Joseph (Hebrew Bible)

Joseph or Yosef , is a major figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible . He was Jacob's eleventh son and Rachel's first. He is also mentioned favourably in the Qur'an....
 and his descendants settled. According to the biblical account, the Israelite
Israelite

According to the Tanakh, the Israelites were the descendants of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. They were divided into twelve tribes, each descended from one of twelve sons or grandsons of Jacob....
s departed from Ramses in their exodus from Egypt
The Exodus

The Exodus , is the term used for the escape, departure and emancipation of the enslaved Israelites freed from Ancient Egypt as described in the Hebrew Bible, mainly in the Book of Exodus....
 (Exodus 12:37).

Archeologists have not yet pinpointed the time or place of both major cities in the Exodus namely Pithom and Raamses, and some dispute its historicity. The Biblical Raamses is acknowledged to almost certainly be Ramesses II's vast capital city of Pi-Ramesses, located today at the sites of Tell el-Dab´a and Qantir respectively, whereas the Biblical Pithom
Pithom

Pithom also called Per-Atum or Hero?polis or Heroonopolis , is an ancient city of Egypt known from both Bible and Ancient Greece and Roman Empire sources....
 or Pi(r)-(A)tum, (literally domain or house of the god Atum
Atum

Atum is an important deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred on the city of Heliopolis . His name is thought to be derived from the word 'tem' which means to complete or finish....
) is possibly located at Tell er-Retaba--as Kenneth Kitchen
Kenneth Kitchen

Kenneth Anderson Kitchen is Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies, University of Liverpool, England....
 argues--rather than Tell el-Maskhuta as some writers previously thought. These two sites, at Qantir and Tell er-Retaba, are 15 to apart.

Minoan civilization
Minoan civilization

The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. The Minoan culture flourished from approximately 27th century BC to 1450 BC; afterwards, Mycenaean Greece culture became dominant at Minoan sites in Crete....
 connection

Besides Thera
Santorini

Santorini is a small, circular archipelago of volcano islands located in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km southeast from Greece's mainland....
 and Crete
Crete

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the List of islands in the Mediterranean largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km? ....
, only two other sites have a record of Minoan civilization
Minoan civilization

The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. The Minoan culture flourished from approximately 27th century BC to 1450 BC; afterwards, Mycenaean Greece culture became dominant at Minoan sites in Crete....
 besides Avaris. They are Tell Kabri, and Alalakh
Alalakh

Alalakh , is the name of an ancient Amorite city and its associated city-state of the Amuq River, located in the Hatay Province region of southern Turkey, now represented by an extensive city-mound....
 in Syria. It is speculated by the excavator of Tell Dab'a (Austrian, Bietak
Manfred Bietak

Manfred Bietak is an Austrian archaeology. He is the current Professor of Egyptology at the University of Vienna and Director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Cairo....
), that there was close contact with the rulers of Avaris, and the large building representing the frescoes allowed the Minoans to have a ritual life in Egypt. French archaeologist Yves Duhoux proposed the existence of a Minoan 'colony' on an island in the Nile delta. These finds may also imply the later arrival of the Sea Peoples
Sea Peoples

The Sea Peoples is the term used for a confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or control Egyptian territory during the late Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt, and especially during Year 8 of Ramesses III of the Twentieth dy...
.

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