Discovery of a New Complete Copy of the Canopus Decree of King Ptolemy III in Sharqia

The Egyptian archaeological mission affiliated with the Supreme Council of Antiquities has uncovered a stone stela at Tell al-Faraun in the city of Husseiniya, Sharqia Governorate, representing a newly found complete copy of the famous Canopus Decree. The decree was originally issued by King Ptolemy III in 283 BC, when senior priests gathered in the city of Canopus (east of Alexandria) to venerate King Ptolemy III, his wife Berenice, and their daughter, and to distribute the decree’s text across Egypt’s major temples.

This marks the most significant discovery of its kind in more than 150 years, as no new complete version of the decree had been found since that time.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Mr. Sherif Fathy, emphasized that the continuous achievements of Egyptian missions add new chapters to the history of Egypt’s great civilization. He highlighted that the discovery sheds light on the archaeological importance of Sharqia Governorate, which still holds treasures that continue to amaze the world. He further stressed the ministry’s full support for all archaeological missions in Egypt to ensure the proper environment for more distinguished discoveries.

Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, noted that the importance of this discovery lies in the fact that it is a newly uncovered complete version of the Canopus Decree, found after more than a century and a half. He explained that this contributes significantly to deepening our understanding of royal and religious texts from the Ptolemaic era and enriches our knowledge of ancient Egyptian history and language.

He added that this new copy joins six other previously known versions, some complete and others fragmentary, found at sites such as Kom al-Hisn, Tanis, and Tell Basta. Unlike other trilingual versions inscribed in hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek, this newly discovered stela is inscribed entirely in hieroglyphs, opening new horizons for studying the ancient Egyptian language and providing further insight into Ptolemaic decrees, royal ceremonies, and religious practices.

According to Mr. Mohamed Abdel-Badie, Head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the sandstone stela features a rounded top, measuring 127.5 cm in height, 83 cm in width, and about 48 cm thick. It is crowned with a winged sun disk flanked by two royal cobras wearing the white and red crowns, with the hieroglyph “di ankh” (“given life”) between them. The central portion contains 30 lines of hieroglyphic inscriptions, executed with moderate-quality carving.

Dr. Hesham Hussein, Head of the Central Administration for Lower Egypt, explained that the inscriptions detail significant acts of King Ptolemy III and Queen Berenice (honored as “the Beneficent Gods”), including donations to temples, maintaining internal peace, reducing taxes during years of low Nile inundation, enhancing their veneration in temples, establishing a new priestly rank in their honor, introducing a new religious festival on the rising of the star Sirius, instituting the leap-year system by adding a day every four years dedicated to their worship, and deifying their daughter Berenice in Egyptian temples. The decree also ordered its texts to be inscribed in hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek and displayed in the major temples.

It is worth noting that Tell al-Faraun (ancient Egyptian city of Imet) in the eastern Nile Delta was an important urban center since the Middle Kingdom. Previous excavations there revealed temples and luxurious residential structures from the Ptolemaic era, including a temple dedicated to the goddess Wadjet.