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"Lost City" of Tanis Found, but Often Forgotten

“Lost City” of Tanis Found, but Often Forgotten

By Brian Handwerk

Published Online by National Geographic

Introduction: The treasures found in the “lost city” of Tanis rival those of King Tut’s. Yet for more than six decades the riches from its rulers’ tombs have remained largely unknown. Many who know of Tanis at all remember the city as portrayed in the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. In the famous film the city was buried by a catastrophic ancient sandstorm and rediscovered by Nazis searching for the Ark of the Covenant.

In reality, the Ark was never hidden in Tanis, the sandstorm didn’t happen, and the Nazis never battled Indiana Jones in the site’s ruins. But the true tale of Tanis is also fit for the silver screen.



Tanis was known by many names. Ancient Egyptians called it Djanet, and the Old Testament refers to the site as Zoan. Today it’s called S

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