Archaeologists may have identified the site of Masn, an ancient Egyptian city mentioned in texts written more than 3,000 years ago. Its location has long been unknown.
An Egyptian archaeological team found an inscription naming the city at Tell Abu Seify in Qantara East, near the Suez Canal in Egypt’s Ismailia governorate. It is carved on a large fragment of a sandstone lintel – a beam that once sat above a doorway.
Broken into two pieces and inscribed on three sides, the stone bears the royal titles of Ramses II, the pharaoh who ruled Egypt for more than 60 years during the 13th century BC. The text also records the restoration of a statue of Horus, an ancient Egyptian deity described as “Lord of the City of Masn”.
Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery on Saturday. The inscription has strengthened the archaeological and historical case linking Tell Abu Seify with Masn, but further excavation and study will be needed before the identification can be confirmed, according to Hisham El Leithy, secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The name Masn, usually rendered Mesen in academic studies, was closely associated with the worship of a local form of Horus at Egypt’s eastern gateway. Scholars have long disagreed over whether Masn was a separate town near Tjaru – the main Egyptian fortress at the start of the route across Sinai – or another name for Tjaru, or the name of its Horus temple.
The question dates back to 1887, when stones bearing Ramses II’s name and references to Horus of Mesen were found at Tell Abu Seify. A 2013 study by James Hoffmeier and Stephen Moshier noted that earlier excavations had found no evidence of occupation there from Ramses II’s time and suggested that the stones had probably been moved from nearby Tell Hebua, now identified as Tjaru.
The ministry says the latest inscription adds new evidence to the Tell Abu Seify theory. Confirming the identification would place Masn on the Horus Military Road, the main military and trade route from Egypt into Sinai and ancient Canaan, helping archaeologists understand how the country’s eastern border was defended and administered.
The excavation has also changed how the wider site is understood. A substantial mud-brick wall containing gateways and rooms was previously thought to be part of a temple. Archaeologists now believe it surrounded the entire temple complex and was expanded or altered several times.
The team also uncovered two stone roads leading from outside the fortified area towards the temple. The earlier road was built during Greek rule under the Ptolemaic dynasty, while a narrower road was laid above it after Egypt came under Roman control.
Inside the complex, archaeologists identified storage rooms to the north, larger service rooms to the south and the remains of the sanctuary, the most sacred part of the temple. The sanctuary was later damaged when stone was removed for use elsewhere.
Objects recovered at the site include part of a statue more than 2,500 years old, depicting a military official holding a small shrine. Archaeologists also found another statue, with its head and feet missing, the basalt torso of a king and fragments of falcon statues made from basalt and limestone.
The temple flourished under the Ptolemaic rulers. During the third century AD, parts of the complex were converted into Roman military barracks. It was later used to produce lime for building and plaster, with two large circular kilns constructed over parts of the former sanctuary.
Excavations will continue in future seasons as archaeologists seek further evidence to determine whether Tell Abu Seify was Masn.
