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The city of Tanis, an important place in the Nile delta, was built by Rameses II (reigned about 1292-1225 B.C.), and is thus described by a contemporary Egyptian in the so-called “Letter of Pambesa.” It is worth noticing what a traveler in the thirteenth century B.C. thought proper to record as of interest 12 to his correspondents. At the time he wrote, Egypt was in the flood time of its prosperity, and possibly never before or after did life “pass in plenty an abundance” in the land, more than in the days of Rameses II.
So I arrived at the city of “Rameses-Meriamen,” and found it admirable: for nothing on the Theban [southern] land and soil can compare with it. Here is the seat of the court. The place is pleasant to dwell in, its fields are full of good things; and life here passes in plenty and abundance. The canals are rich in fish; the lakes swarm with birds; the meadows are green with vegetables; there is no end to the lentils; melons with a taste like honey grow in the irrigated gardens. The barns are full of wheat and durra [a grain], and reach as high as heaven. Onions and grapes grow in the inclosures; and the apple tree blooms among them. The vine, the almond tree, and the fig tree are found in the orchards. The redfish is common in the lotus canal; the Bori-fish in the ponds; many varieties of the same together with carp and pike (?) in the canal of Pu-harotha. . . . The city canal Pshenhor produces salt, the lake region of Pahir produces natron. Sea-going ships enter the harbor. Plenty and abundance are perpetual.
1 This is a series of books edited by Professor A. H. Sayce and published in London. It should not be confused with the monthly magazine of the same name published in Washington.