In spite of the divergent opinions of
Egyptologists as regards the beginning of the military route or what is
called " The Great Horus Route" illustrated in the battle relief
of King Seti I in the columns court of the Karnak Temple, as having 12 fortresses
and military compounds, yet they agree upon the route's real existence. Egyptologists have discovered until now 4 fortresses, two at Qantrah Sharq (Eastern Qantarah) at Tell Habouh and Tell Al-Borg; the third in Bir Al-Abd; the fourth in the Kharoub area near Al-Arish.
But the largest is that of Tell Habouh which had been previously the old Pharaonic Fortress of Tharou, the first to be built on the great military route. This was confirmed by the Anstasy Papyrus which bears variegated drawings inscribed by Thutomose III. The
fortress embraced a station of the Egyptian army, the barracks of the soldiers and the houses of the officers; the central stores of the State and a stable. In fact, it is an important discovery because it constitutes a model of Ancient Egypt's military architecture, and the
Egyptian strategy, through different ages, for the protection of the entirety of Egypt.
It presents, likewise, a pattern of the
Egyptian commander and soldier, three thousand years ago, while founding
this great edifice and defensive line in the form of a series of fortresses
and military cities.
According to an old Pharaonic script, the Tharou Fortress had been chosen
by the Egyptian military strategy, to be at the end of the line separating
the green line from the yellow one. It was the first to be fortified by
two parallel walls, followed by 11 fortresses acting as early alert points
before the arrival of any conquering army to the strategically located
Tharou Fortress. In the same area there was an economic society, indicating
that it had been a commercial and customs zone where customs taxes were
collected before reaching the Delta.
The most significant discovery by the American mission in Tell El-Borg
was a collection of blue-coloured pottery dating back to the 18th Dynasty;
a drawing of King Ramesses II;
earthen jars bearing the seals of Tutankhamun, a matter which indicates
that the Horus route had been used by several Pharaonic kings such as
Thutmose III, Ramesses II,
Memeptah and Horemheb.
The discovered earthen jars which date back
to El-Amarna Era, indicate that there had been economic relations between
Thebes in Upper Egypt and Tharou area, famous for exporting the jars containing
the best wine at the time; this is an indication also that this area of
East Qantarah (Assalam Canal at present) had been planted with grapes.
Among the new discoveries in Tell El-Borg, is an important archeological
cemetery containing rectangular graves built of bricks, wide chambers
and pottery imported from Palestine, Syria and Cyprus, thus indicating
that there had been commercial relations
between Egypt and Ancient Near-Eastern countries; and that the Horus route
had been both a military and commercial route.
The head of the Egyptian archeological mission working in the area refers
also to Tell Abu Seify near Tell Habouh in Eastern Qantarah as representing
the second main location which defined the Eastern Gate of Egypt; there,
it was discovered the fortress of Sylah with
its 13-meter-wide walls intervened by spaces and rooms for the guards.
The Fortress has an eastern tower with an outer principal gate and a path
of limestone leading to the interior of the fortress and to the main 1500-sq-meter
temple of Sylah, the Romanian city; were discovered also chambers of the
different deities, provisions' stores
and a wide collection of educational tableaux used by the priests to teach
the students inside the temple.
A small city dating back to the Ptolemaic Era was also discovered with
a series of houses looking on four main streets intersecting like a chessboard,
in a way similar to the Ancient Hellenic architectural planning.
The discovery of Tell Seify led to the discovery
of a large dykelike structure and a series of anchorage, as a sign of
the existence of harbors' architecture in the Eastern Gate of Egypt, a
matter which indicates that there had been commercial exchange between
Egypt and the Mediterranean countries.
Finally, and by the discovery of some existing fortresses along the Horus
military route, in addition to the endeavors for the Egyptian-American
mission responsible of the search and excavations to discover the ruins
of the route's fortresses.. Northern Sinai has become
the open military museum with its military monuments, after the flooding
of the Nubian fortresses which were the remaining military symbol of Sinai's
fortresses.