Qantir

Welcome to Qantir, a quiet village in the Nile Delta that hides beneath its fields one of the most spectacular cities of the ancient world: Pi-Ramesses, the 'House of Ramesses'. Commissioned by Ramesses the Great around 1250 BC…

In 2005, archaeologists made a stunning discovery here: the remains of a Bronze Age glass factory dating to the reign of Ramesses II. This is the largest known high-temperature workshop yet discovered in antiquity. …

To understand the sophistication of Qantir, one must look at the chemistry involved. Excavations here have transformed our understanding of Egyptian glass-working, showing for the first time how they actually made glass from…

We move now to an area where recent excavations have targeted the city's political heart: the palace. For years, this building was only known from ancient texts and magnetic measurements. …

While much of the work in Qantir is about gathering information rather than finding objects, occasionally a truly beautiful artifact emerges from the mud. In the spring of 2022, archaeologists found a remarkably well-preserved…

Standing in the middle of a seemingly empty field, it is hard to grasp that a massive city lies just inches beneath your feet. This is why documentation is the most important part of the work at Qantir. …

Pi-Ramesses was once a city of unparalleled grandeur, but its time was cut short by the changing nature of the Nile. As the Pelusiac branch of the river began to silt up, the city lost its vital connection to trade and water. …

As we conclude our tour of Qantir, we are reminded that some of history's greatest stories are not written in standing stone, but in the earth itself. We have explored the world's largest glass factory, stood over the foundations…