A team of underwater archaeologists has made new discoveries at a sunken temple in the ancient port city Thonis-Heracleion, which is now located off Egypt’s coast, the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) announced on Tuesday, Writes ARTNews

The city, which was initially found underwater by the IEASM in 2000, was once Egypt’s largest port along the Mediterranean Sea. That port was active for centuries before the founding of Alexandria in 331 BCE. Its remains are now under the ocean roughly 4.3 miles from the current coastline.

Artifacts at a Greek sanctuary to Aphrodite among the ruins of the ancient city Thonis-Heracleion. © Franck Goddio/Hilti Foundation. Photo Christoph Gerigk

Led by French marine archaeologist Franck Goddio, the team found huge blocks of stone from a collapsed ancient temple dedicated to the god Amun. Pharaohs went to the temple to be bestowed with their power as king.
Additionally, the team found precious objects, among them silver ritual instruments, gold jewelry, and alabaster containers for perfumes and ointments. These objects are thought to have once belonged to the temple treasury.
Excavations conducted by Goddio’s team and the underwater archaeology department of Egypt’s ministry and tourism department yielded underground structures supported dating back to the 5th century BCE. Before these structures sunk, they were supported using wooden posts and beams. The use of new geophysical prospecting technologies, which make it possible to detect buried chambers and objects, aided in the find.
A Greek sanctuary to Aphrodite containing bronze and ceramic objects was unearthed east of the Amun temple. Archaeologists believe that the discovery of Greek weapons in the area indicated the presence of mercenaries who would have been defending access to the Kingdom. It also demonstrates that Greeks were allowed to trade and settle in the city during the Saïte dynasty (664–525 BCE).

Even Business Insider is getting in on the exciting news of the recent finds of Franck Goddio's Team in Egypt

One of the Team with a very interesting find
© Franck Goddio/Hilti Foundation. Photo Christoph Gerigk

After a millenium under the sea, and a few years on tour of the worlds cultural capitals as part of exhibitions of the finds of the IEASM, the colossal statues of an Egyptian Queen dressed as Isis and her double-crowned Pharaoh King have found a permanent home at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt.



The long anticipated Museum opening has not yet occurred, but eager visitors can already see the Royal Couple in their place of prominence. So far from where Franck Goddio's team of divers found them. I am so proud to be part of that team, and remember the discovery like it was yesterday.

CNN just covered the opening in a video clip here. I hope you enjoy it.

Seeing as I spent over 20 years diving on the most important sunken cities in history as part of the team of legendary Underwater Archaeologist Franck Goddio, I ought to know what the competition is, right?

But there are a lot of sites with "Submerged Cultural Resources" (as the experts call them) out there, and with new technology and interest, new ones pop up regularly.

Not to mention the plethora of malignant videos and articles offering photoshopped and AI produced images of fantastical underwater scenes that never existed.

So I'm doing some digging, for my own interest, and will be plopping the interesting bits in here as posts.
Step one; A google search of the words "Sunken Cities" results below: Inconceivably, Heracleion did not come in first place! Scandalous!

Underwater Archaeologist Franck Goddio's Discovery of a Sunken Egyptian City that played a major role in Thousand year old Rituals lead by Egypts Last Pharaoh is revealed in this excellent documentary film. Here is a snip:

When I came out of the water after my morning dive yesterday, we had a visitor I hadn't expected on board. After shaking of the salt water and preparing to give a full report of the excavations progress on my end of the site to Director of Excavations Franck Goddio,  Franck said "Let me introduce you to Bill Weir, He's from America too".

Bill and his crew create a very popular hour-long show called 'The Wonder List". You might have seen or heard of it playing on CNN on Sunday nights. ​They tell the stories of extraordinary people, places, cultures and creatures at the crossroads. Exciting stuff. They also go way out of their way to capture beautiful imagery. I love that. And the underlying point of the show, if I got Bill's message correctly, is in "wondering" what the world will be like in the not too distant future, and what will be left that we will recognize from today.. On hearing that, they had me hook, line, and sinker.

 Franck asked me to take Bill for a tour of the site we are working on during the current archaeological  excavation on the sunken city of Heracleion (or Thonis, in ancient Egyptian), I was enthusiastic to share the process of exploration under the sea.

Before the dive, Bill and his film crew toured the ship and filmed conservation of artifacts, the 3-D photogrammetry process, our Ceramologue Catherine at work, and the many disciplines involved in an underwater archaeological excavation on a city that's been under the sea for over a thousand years. When the time came, we jumped in ( With Roland and Yoann shooting video, and Christof shooting stills) and took a leisurely stroll through the ancient city, taking in the ruins and landscape that very few people have seen since they disappeared beneath the sea.  

It was a very pleasant dive, but what I enjoyed the most was Bills excitement in describing what he had seen to his crew, and the cameras. He seemed genuinely surprised at what the site held in store.

And for most of us, the archaeological divers on Francks team, that is what this job is really about; sharing the fascinating things that we are privileged to uncover with the world, and hoping that they will be as amazed as we are.

Later in the afternoon The Wonder List Filmmakers caught the last felucca going back to the fishermen's port in Abu Kir, in order to continue shooting in Alexandria and the Nile River Delta. It will be a while before the show completes the process of creation. Months for sure.

But in the meantime, as soon as I get a reasonable internet connection or return home, I look forward to checking out "The Wonder List" to see what other stories they have covered, and find out if we will likely be classified extraordinary as a places, or as creatures.


All the best,
​Eric

http://osiris-zuerich.ch/
http://www.franckgoddio.org/
http://www.hiltifoundation.org/en/
http://www.ieasm.org/
http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/ocma.html



inary people, places, cultures and creatures at a crossroads.CNN's Bill Weir and filmmaker Philip Bloom tell the stories of extraordinary people, places, cultures and creatures at a crossroads.

Alexander is an expert on ancient shipwreck construction and has discovered some fascinating new characteristics on one of the many shipwrecks that are associated with the sunken Egyptian city of Heracleion/Thonis.

He also plays classical guitar. On the long, quiet evenings on board, the sound of his music drifts gracefully out of cabin #1 and down the corridor, bringing joy to all, especially those of us in cabins 3 and 5.

Despite his overall peaceful demeanor, a warning; It does not extend to the chess board.

For more information on the Heracleion and the shipwrecks please visit the Franck Goddio Society Website, or the upcoming exhibition.

http://osiris-zuerich.ch/
http://www.franckgoddio.org/
http://www.hiltifoundation.org/en/
http://www.ieasm.org/
http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/ocma.html