Taposiris Magna
North View of Taposiris Magna Osiris Temple
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| Alternate name | Abousir |
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| Location | Alexandria Governorate, Egypt |
| Region | Alexandria |
| Coordinates | 30°56′46.2″N 29°31′7.3″E / 30.946167°N 29.518694°ECoordinates: 30°56′46.2″N 29°31′7.3″E / 30.946167°N 29.518694°E |
| Type | Settlement, Temple |
| History | |
| Builder | Ptolemy II, Ptolemy IV |
| Founded | 280 - 270 BCE |
| Periods | Ptolemaic Egypt |
The name Taposiris Magna denotes the name of a city as well as a temple of the same name at the same location established by the Pharaoh Ptolemy II between 280 and 270 BC. According to Plutarch the temple denotes the tomb of Osiris (which is translation of the name). After Alexander conquered Egypt in 332 BC and established his city (called Alexandro and then Alexandria) the city of Taposiris Magna became a center for religious festival of Khoiak. In 1798 after Napoleon landed in Egypt he conducted a survey of the architecture of the city of Alexandria and Taposiris Magna. After the Ottoman Empire took occupation of the city in 1801, the governor Mohammed Ali decided to rebuild the modern city of Alexandria atop the ruins of the old city. In the twentieth century excavations of the site were started under the Italian Governor Evaristo Breccia. Calisthenis states that Alexander the Great visited the city on his way to the Oasis of Siwa, which gives credence to the theory that there must have been a town here in the Hellenistic period.
The city stood on the navigable arm of the now dried out bed of the ancient Lake Mareotis. The size of the lake raises the possibility that the harbor played a role in the trade between Egypt and Libya. Traders from the west could use water transportation to the harbor and then take a caravan route. Similarly trade from Libya could be shipped aboard boats to Taposiris and transported to interior cities of Egypt, although this theory also has its critics. The wine produced in this part of Egypt was also famous during this time.
Atop the Taenia ridge, an outcropping of limestone which separates the sea from Lake Maerotis, stand two monuments that were partly restored in the 1930s. One is a tower that has been used in the reconstruction of the lighthouse of Alexandria and the other is the remains of a temple of Osiris that is also believed to be the last resting place of Cleopatra. In the most scholarly study of the tower yet conducted, it was concluded that "The Tower of Abusir" was definitely not a lighthouse or even a watchtower. It was probably constructed during the Ptolemaic reign after the Pharos was built and was only a funerary monument.
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