An Ancient Egyptian City Heracleion disappeared
beneath the Mediterranean about 1,200 years ago
and for centuries it was thought to be a legend. But
a great discovery proved that the lost city was real
and started to reveal what life was like in the
legendary port of Heracleion.
Also known as Thonis (name for the Egyptian), it is
a city of extraordinary wealth mentioned by
Herodotus, visited by Helen of Troy and Paris, but
apparently buried under the sea. It is believed
Heracleion served as the obligatory port of entry to
Egypt for all ships coming from the Greek world.
Submerged under 150 feet of the sea, the lost city
is located in western part of today’s Aboukir Bay,
Egypt.
Researchers discovered the remains of more than 64 ships buried in the thick clay and sand that
covers the sea bed. Gold coins and weights made
from bronze and stone have also been found, a hint
that the trade went on.
Giant 16 foot statues have been uncovered and
over 700 ancient ship anchors. Hundreds of smaller statues of minor gods on the sea floor where also found by the archaeologist.
Slabs of stone inscribed in both ancient Greek and
Ancient Egyptian were brilliantly preserved and
protected by sand on the sea floor for centuries
leaving them untouched.
Recently divers uncovered dozens of small
limestone sarcophagi which are believed to have
once contained mummified animals, put there to
appease the Gods.
But scientists still have little idea what caused the
city to slip into the water nearly 1,000 years ago. It
is thought that gradual sea level rise combined with
a sudden collapse of the unstable sediment the city
was built on caused the area to drop by around 12
feet.
The objects recovered from the excavations
illustrate the cities’ beauty and glory – a civilization
frozen in time.The archaeological evidences are overwhelming,but scientist said they are just at the beginning oftheir research.
To fully uncover the past they will probably have to continue working for the next 200 years for Thonis-Heracleion.




source: wereblog.com

egypt and history.....are like two best friends......hmm

nice discovery.
organized religions seem to be limiting our advancement of the knowledge of our true past, its high time we concentraed more on archaeological-science.

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Scyllapatron: nice discovery.
organized religions seem to be limiting our advancement of the knowledge of our true past, its high time we concentraed more on archaeological-science.

Word! I wonder what we'd find in Nigeria. Stolen government funds perhaps?