Ancient inscription at Tell Abu Seifi may finally locate lost city of Mesen

A fragmented sandstone lintel discovered at Tell Abu Seifi in Egypt’s northern Sinai bears three-sided inscriptions that name Ramesses II and describe a restoration of a Horus statue, explicitly calling Horus “Lord of Mesen.” The site, situated near the Suez Canal and the eastern Nile Delta, also yielded a ruined Horus temple, mudbrick enclosure walls, and gateways, indicating a substantial settlement once stood there.

A bronze seal and several coffins from the Ptolemaic period further repeat the Horus-Mesen association, implying the city’s continuity long after the New Kingdom. If the identification is confirmed, Tell Abu Seifi would finally place the historically referenced city of Mesen on modern maps, shedding light on a key military route toward the Levant. However, archaeologists caution that the temple’s destruction may have erased critical evidence, and further excavation is required to verify the claim.