Pi-Ramesses

Pi-Ramesses, meaning House of Ramesses in Ancient Egyptian, was the capital that the Nineteenth Dynasty pharaoh Ramesses II built at Qantir in the eastern Nile Delta, near the older site of Avaris. It had served as a summer palace under Seti I and may have been founded by Ramesses I. Ramesses II moved the seat of government there from Thebes partly because the city lay much closer to Egypt's vassal states in Asia and to the border with the Hittite empire, and the main army was encamped in it. Built on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, it is estimated to have spread over about 18 square kilometres with a population of over 300,000, making it one of the largest cities of ancient Egypt. When that branch began silting up around 1060 BC the city lost its water, and the Twenty-first Dynasty carried its temples, obelisks and statues to Tanis. Manfred Bietak's excavations at Tell el-Dab'a and Qantir identified the site, which modern biblical archaeologists link with the Raamses of the Book of Exodus.