 | |
  Shown within Egypt | |
| Alternative name | Abousir |
|---|---|
| Location | Alexandria Governorate, Egypt |
| Region | Alexandria |
| Coordinates | 30°56′46.2″N 29°31′7.3″E / 30.946167°N 29.518694°E |
| Type | Settlement, Temple |
| History | |
| Builder | Ptolemy II, Ptolemy IV |
| Founded | 280 – 270 BC |
| Periods | Ptolemaic Egypt |
Taposiris Magna is a city established by Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus between 280 and 270 BC. The name means "great tomb of Osiris", which Plutarch identifies with an Egyptian temple in the city.
After Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BC and established Alexandria, the city of Taposiris Magna became a center for religious festival of Khoiak. The Ptolemaic Kingdom, the last Egyptian dynasty, was established following this, as a Greek state during this Hellenistic Period that lasted until the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC.[1] [2] Napoleon arrived in Egypt during 1798 and French scientists subsequently conducted a survey of the architecture of the city published in the Description de l'Égypte.
In the twentieth century, excavations of the site were started under the Italian Evaristo Breccia.[3] Callisthenes states that Alexander the Great visited the city on his way to Siwa Oasis, which gives credence to the theory that there must have been a town there in the Hellenistic period.[4]
- ^ Nardo, Don (2009-03-13). Ancient Greece. Greenhaven Publishing LLC. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-7377-4624-2.
- ^ "Ancient Egypt – Macedonian and Ptolemaic Egypt (332–30 bce)". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
- ^ Győző Vörös (2006). Taposiris Magna, 1998-2004: Alexandriai magyar ásatások. American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-963-214-886-1. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- ^ Kathryn A. Bard (14 May 1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge. p. 927. ISBN 978-0-415-18589-9. Retrieved 8 June 2012.