TANIS, the Hebrew Zoan (זוּן), and the modern Arabic San, a town of ancient Egypt, which gave its name to one of the mouths of the Nile, the second from the east, on which it stood. It was a very ancient city, having been founded, as we are told in the book of Numbers (ch. xiii. 22), seven years later than Hebron, one of the oldest cities in Palestine. Its position near the sea, and among the marshes of the Delta, gave Tanis much importance, and it became one of the chief cities of Lower Egypt. It was probably the residence of some of the Egyptian monarchs; and the field of Zoan, or the rich plain in its vicinity, is described in the Psalms as the scene of the wonders that preceded the Exodus of the Israelites. At a later period, Isaiah mentions the princes of Zoan and the princes of Noph, or Memphis, as if these were the chief cities of Egypt. The rise of Sais seems to have led to the decline of Tanis; but until about the time of the Christian era it continued to be an important town. It probably depended much on the manufacture of linen, for which it was famous. Extensive and interesting monuments still exist on the site of Tanis.