ancient fortress town (Fortress of Penhase), situated near Qanṭarah, in present-day ash-Sharqīyah muḥāfaẓah (governorate), northeastern Egypt. Excavations by Sir Flinders Petrie in 1886 uncovered a massive fort and enclosure surrounded by a wall 40 feet (13 m) thick, built by Psamtik I in the 7th century bc. A garrison of mercenaries, mostly Carians and Ionian Greeks, was established in the fort. After the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (587 bc), many Jewish fugitives, including the prophet Jeremiah, fled to Tahpanhes. Its decline began in the 6th century bc when Ahmose II gave Naukratis the monopoly of Greek trade.
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