Heracleion : The Lost City

# Heracleion : The Lost City

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Twelve hundred years ago a thriving city disappeared beneath the Mediterranean, never to be seen again. Countless lives were lost, the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars and an entire population fell into the shadows of the sea forever. For centuries the famous lost city of Heracleion has straddled line between legend and reality. Only sculptures indicated its possible existence but finally the lost city has been found.

 

Long before Heracleion found its new home deep beneath the surface of the Mediterranean, it was a booming vibrant metropolis welcoming travellers and ships from near and far. Before Alexandria became known as the dominant Mediterranean port city that title belonged to Heracleion which stood as an obligatory port of entry to Egypt for any vessel sailing over from the Greek world. Not only was Heracleion a bursting city for welcoming but it was also an important religious centre.

The city which sat near the canopic mouth of Nile, about 20 miles northeast of modern day Alexandria was built around the grand temple and was crisscrossed with a network of canals linked by ferries, bridges pontoons.

It seems insane that such a flourishing important metropolis could simply vanish into the ocean never to be seen again. Yet in the 8^th century a.d that’s exactly what happened.

Research suggests the site was affected by extensive geological and cataclysmic phenomena, in other words repeated natural disaster which slowly caused the sea levels in the area to rise. Simultaneously as the earth under the city became increasingly unstable as the centuries went by, the damage took its toll the turning point came at the end of the second century bc likely after a severe and drawn out flood and earthquake. That’s when the ground on which the central island of Heracleion was sitting succumbed to soil liquefaction. The hard clay morphed into an unstable sludge like liquid and the slew of the buildings. The great temple included started collapsing violently into the water while some brave resident chose to stay in the area. By the end of the 8^th century a.d the final slivers of the city had been engulfed.

For the better part of 1200 years the famed lost city became nothing more than a memory. In 1933, an RAF commander flying over Abu Qir Bay saw ruins under the water. At that time, most historians believed that Thonis and Heracleion were two separate cities, both located on what is now the Egyptian mainland. The ruins submerged in the sea were located and explored by the French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio in 1999, after a five-year search. They have managed to find an array of astounding near priceless artefacts, highlighting the long list of findings are gold coins and weights made from bronze and stone, slabs of stone inscribed in both ancient Greek and ancient Egyptian, the remains of more than 64 ships, an array of enormous 16 foot statues, hundreds of smaller statues depicting minor gods, numerous amulets and religious charms and more limestone mummification than they could count. Individually these artifacts could be worth millions to museums. The underwater archaeological research in Thonus Herklion is ongoing until today. Frank Goddio has stated that nearly 5% of the city has actually been discovered. Imagine how many million dollar objects are out there waiting to be found.