Abusir (, ) (also spelled Abousir and Abu Seer, known in ancient times as

Taposiris Magna 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 3 ...

) is a seaside town on the shore of

Lake Mariout Lake Mariout ( ar, بحيرة مريوط ', , also spelled Maryut or Mariut), is a brackish lake in northern Egypt near the city of Alexandria. The lake area covered and had a navigable canal at the beginning of the 20th century, but at the begin ...

on the western extremity of Egypt's

Nile delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower 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 Po ...

. It is situated about southwest of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. Ruins of an ancient temple and an ancient replica of the

Lighthouse of Alexandria The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria (; Ancient Greek: ὁ Φάρος τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας, contemporary Koine ), was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the re ...

are to be seen here. As of 2009, it was also suspected to be the burial place of

Cleopatra VII Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

and

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...

Ancient relics

A series of tombs and the remains of a temple are found on a stony

kurkar Kurkar ( ar, كركار / he, כורכר) is the term used in Palestinian Arabic and modern Hebrew for the rock type of which lithified sea sand dunes consist. The equivalent term used in Lebanon is ramleh.[Aharon Horowitz. ''The Quaternary of I ...

ridge, wedged between the lake and the sea.

Ancient tomb

A well-preserved ancient tomb is thought to be a scaled-down model of the Alexandria Pharos. Known colloquially under various names — the ''Pharos of Abusir'', the ''Abusir funerary monument'' and Burg al-Arab (Arab's Tower) — it consists of a 3-storey tower, approximately in height, with a square base, a hexagonal midsection and cylindrical upper section, like the building upon which it was apparently modelled. It dates to the reign of Ptolemy II (285–246 BC), and is therefore likely to have been built at about the same time as the Alexandria Pharos.

Recent excavations

Zahi Hawass and Kathleen Martinez have excavated the vicinity of the Temple of Isis since 2006. They found a carved male head and a partial mask, showing cleft chin reminiscent of

, besides a stash of coins bearing the image of

. Relying on these and the account of

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

, they believed that Cleopatra and Mark Antony were both buried in the vicinity, most likely below the Temple of Isis.

References

External links

{{Coord, 30, 56, 42, N, 29, 30, 35, E, type:city_region:EG, name=Abusir (Lake Mariout), display=title Cities in ancient Egypt Ruins in Egypt Nile Delta

Ancient relics

Ancient tomb

Recent excavations

See also

References

External links