The eastern Delta site of Tell el-Muqdam was sacred to the lion god
Mahes (Mihos), a son of Bastet, as well the deities Shu and Tefnut who
were venerated in the form of two lions sitting back to back. The
large settlement consists of several mounds, once the ancient town of
Taremu which became the regional capital of the 11th Lower Egyptian
nome during the Ptolemaic Period. In Greek times the town was known as
Leontopolis when the name of its principal deity was Mysis.
The Temple of Mahes is situated in the eastern area of the site but
large-scale removal and re-use of blocks has made the remains
difficult to date precisely. Surviving stelae and statuary indicate
that there was already a temple at Taremu during Dynasty XVIII. Other
earlier monuments have been found to have been usurped by later kings
and a statue of Dynasty XIV King Nehesy usurped by Merenptah is
thought to have originated here. Nehesy, an official during the Hyksos
period who assumed royal status for a short period at Avaris, is also
named in inscribed fragments found at Tell el-Muqdam, giving his
epithets of 'Beloved of Seth, Lord of Avaris' and 'Eldest King's Son'.
Other objects, including several bronze statuettes of lions, are
thought to originate from Tell el-Muqdam.
There is evidence that Tell el-Muqdam may have been the power base of
some of the kings of the Third Intermediate Period and the site is
thought to have incorporated a royal cemetery from that period.
However, some Egyptologists have argued that the capital was at
Khemenu (Hermopolis Magna) and only one tomb, that of Queen Kama(ma),
the mother of Dynasty XXIII King Osorkon III, has so far been located
at the site to the west of the main ruins. Osorkon III (Usermaatre
Setepenamun) is thought to have inherited the throne of Leontopolis
from Shoshenq IV.
Another nearby mound at Mit Ya'ish has also produced objects from the
same periods, including a stela of Osorkon III, as well as Ptolemaic
artefacts. |
