Once upon a time, there was an ancient Egyptian city named after the Greek hero Heracles. For 1,500 years, people thought this city was just a legend. This city, which sheltered Helen of Troy, was located near the Nile River and the Mediterranean Sea. It was one of Egypt’s richest cities and played a significant role in Cleopatra’s rise to power. However, in 2000, archaeologists discovered a treasure trove of jewelry, sarcophagi, coins, and statues beneath the Mediterranean Sea, changing our understanding of ancient Egypt.
In 1933, a British pilot named Captain Cole was flying over Abu Qir Bay in Egypt when he noticed something unusual beneath the water. He had unknowingly spotted Heracleion, an ancient Egyptian city submerged for 1,500 years. Known to the Egyptians as Thonis, this city was famous for its connections to Greek myths involving Heracles and Helen of Troy. Heracleion was a major city during Egypt’s Golden Age and remained important for centuries.
Legend has it that Cleopatra chose Heracleion for her coronation. The city was built around a grand temple dedicated to the god Amun. Before it sank between 300 and 400 A.D., Heracleion was located at the mouth of the Nile Delta. In 1996, a team of Egyptian and French archaeologists, led by diver Frank Gudio, set out to find French warships but instead stumbled upon this mythical city. After months of searching, they finally found Heracleion in 2000, uncovering a large stone head of the Egyptian deity Hapi, who represented the Nile’s annual flood.
The archaeologists discovered a wealth of treasures in Heracleion, including sarcophagi, giant statues of pharaohs, a sphinx, and hundreds of god and goddess statues. They also found 64 ancient ships, 700 anchors, and gold coins. The estimated value of these treasures is between 5 to 10 billion dollars. Remarkably, the excavation is still in its early stages, and only about five percent of the city has been uncovered.
Heracleion was once a bustling metropolis, welcoming ships from Greece and Phoenician cities. It was located at the intersection of the Mediterranean and Nile Rivers, resembling an ancient version of Venice. The city played a crucial role in Greek mythology, with stories of Heracles visiting Egypt. Heracleion was also mentioned in Greek literature, such as Homer’s “Iliad,” where Helen of Troy and Paris sought refuge in the city.
The question remains: how did Heracleion sink without a trace? Some researchers believe that the city’s weight, combined with the sandy soil it was built on, could have caused a sinkhole, especially after a major geological event like an earthquake. However, there are no records to confirm this theory. Scientists agree that a gradual rise in sea level and a sudden collapse of the city’s unstable sediment likely caused it to sink.
As archaeologists continue to explore Heracleion, they uncover more artifacts, including gold jewelry, coins, and parts of a large ceremonial boat. These discoveries provide a glimpse into life in ancient Egypt. Heracleion was a major port for international trade, and its importance is evident from the numerous shipwrecks and anchors found in Abu Qir Bay.
The mystery of Heracleion’s sinking remains unsolved, but the ongoing excavations promise to reveal more secrets of this ancient city. As we wait for more discoveries, the story of Heracleion continues to captivate historians and archaeologists alike.
Research the discovery of Heracleion and its significance in ancient Egyptian history. Create a presentation to share with your classmates, highlighting key findings and their impact on our understanding of ancient Egypt.
Create a timeline that outlines the major events related to Heracleion, from its prominence in ancient times to its discovery in 2000. Include important dates, discoveries, and historical figures associated with the city.
Explore the connections between Greek mythology and Heracleion. Write a short essay or create a comic strip that illustrates how myths involving Heracles and Helen of Troy are linked to the city’s history.
Imagine you are curating an exhibit about Heracleion. Design a layout for the exhibit, including descriptions of artifacts such as statues, coins, and ships. Explain the significance of each item and how it contributes to our understanding of the city.
Participate in a class debate about the possible reasons for Heracleion’s sinking. Research different theories and present arguments supporting your chosen theory, considering geological and historical evidence.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
—
A long time ago, there was an ancient Egyptian metropolis named after the Greek hero Heracles, where people say the legends we know today were born. For 1,500 years, the city was thought to be just a myth. The city that served as the shelter for Helen of Troy was situated near the mouth of the Canopic branch of the Nile River and the edge of the Sea of the Greeks. It was one of the wealthiest cities in Egypt, where Cleopatra rose to power. However, in 2000, archaeologists discovered a treasure trove full of billions of dollars worth of jewelry, sarcophagi, coins, and statues underneath the Mediterranean Sea. This discovery changed the history of ancient Egypt as we know it.
Welcome to Nutty History, and this is the untold story of the lost city of ancient Egypt.
A significant revelation about ancient Egyptian life is hidden deep within Abu Qir Bay. British RAF crew Captain Cole was flying over Abu Qir in 1933, which at the time was a Royal Air Force airfield in Egypt, east of Alexandria. He caught a glimpse of something deep beneath the waves. As his plane flew over the lake, Cole could see the shapes of buildings below the surface of the river. He didn’t know at the time, but he had discovered Heracleion, a significant ancient Egyptian city that had lain submerged for 1,500 years. Heracleion was the Greek name for the ancient Egyptian city Thonis. It was famous for being part of two major Greek myths: Heracles, the son of Zeus, and Helen of Troy. It was also one of the most important cities during the Golden Age of ancient Egypt and remained of great importance for another 1,000 years.
Legend has it that Cleopatra chose Thonis, or Heracleion, as the venue for her coronation. Built around a vast temple of the god Amun, the city now lies 150 feet below sea level, similar to the legend of Atlantis. Before the Mediterranean Sea claimed this jewel of ancient Egypt, between 300 and 400 A.D., the city was located at the mouth of the Nile Delta. In 1996, Egyptian and French archaeologists teamed up to search for French warships under the leadership of Frank Gudio, a diver and archaeologist. They were not expecting to stumble upon a mythical city. The two cities lie under eight to five meters of water, which is not very deep, covered by one to three meters of sediment. This is why they hadn’t been discovered before.
After months of searching for archaeological remains on the seabed, taking soil samples, and gathering geophysical data, Heracleion, or Thonis, was finally found in the year 2000. Their labor paid off when they discovered a large stone head poking out of the sea floor, emerging from the murky waters. The head belonged to the Egyptian deity Hapi, who represented the Nile’s yearly flood. They found a ton of treasures in the city that were frozen in time, leading them to the long-lost Amun Temple. The temple alone offered dozens of sarcophagi, giant statues of pharaohs, a sphinx, hundreds of god and goddess statues, 64 ancient ships, 700 anchors, and gold coins and weights made from bronze and stone. The estimated worth of the found treasure is around 5 to 10 billion dollars, not just for its historical value. The most exciting part of the story is that the excavation is in its very early stages. The research and archaeology team believes they have found only five percent of the great ancient port city, and there is much more left to be uncovered.
Today, history is filled with tales of Babylon, Rome, and Pompeii, and almost everybody knows them, even people who have hardly any interest in academic history. But Heracleion was a lesser-known myth, overshadowed by cities like Alexandria, Abydos, and Pyramids. Even the legend of Atlantis has been infinitely more popular and often related to ancient Egypt in modern times. However, back when Thonis or Heracleion stood tall to welcome ships from Greece and Phoenician cities, it was one of the major metropolises of the Egyptian Kingdom. It was situated at the intersection of the Mediterranean and the Nile Rivers, crisscrossed by many canals. If one didn’t have a good knowledge of where they were, they might mistake it for an ancient version of Venice.
The city also held importance in Greek mythology. Greek sailors and historians, such as Herodotus, believed that during his 12 labors, Heracles visited Egypt. However, the then king of Egypt, Viserys, attempted to sacrifice the Greek hero to Egyptian gods, which angered Heracles, leading to the demise of Viserys and his servants. Whether Viserys was real or not remains a topic of debate. When Herodotus visited Egypt, he proposed that the Egyptian god Khonsu, son of Ra, was an Egyptian version of Heracles.
Today, we know Khonsu mainly for granting Oscar Isaac’s character in “The Mummy” powers that transform him into a Marvel superhero. But back in ancient Egyptian times, the bird-headed god was a traveler god of the moon. The city of Heracleion itself also makes an appearance in Greek literature. In the Epic Iliad, Homer wrote that after Helen betrayed her husband Menelaus, the King of Sparta, she and Paris fled to Heracleion or Thonis to hide until it was safe to leave for Troy.
The only known prominent mention of Heracleion happens during the rule of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. It is believed that when Cleopatra ascended to the throne, she chose Heracleion as her coronation venue. The new dive team found a clutch of new ports, effectively extending their map of the ancient sunken city by about two-thirds of a mile. They have also added to their mapping of Canopus, a second submerged city close to Heracleion.
What’s more, one of the ancient ships at the site from the 4th century BC was found to contain crockery, coins, and jewelry. One now fully excavated vessel provides an unprecedented look into what life was like in ancient Egypt. Imagine yourself as a European merchant in the 5th century BC, perhaps importing grain, perfume, or papyrus from Egypt, or maybe selling silver, copper, wine, or oil. The best way to establish this trade was through the city of Thonis-Heracleion. Along with its sister city, Naucratis, Heracleion played a vital role in the economy of ancient Egypt. The importance of Heracleion is supported by the 64 ancient shipwrecks and more than 700 anchors that archaeologists have recovered from Abu Qir Bay. These anchors belonged to cities from all over the Mediterranean Sea. Goods were imported and exported from Heracleion, and the excise duty collected there became part of the pharaoh’s treasures. Naucratis was the market where these goods exchanged hands.
In recent months, divers at Heracleion have discovered what can only be described as a treasure heap of artifacts from the site. Recent discoveries include gold jewelry, coins, and a missing piece of a large ceremonial boat that, when complete, measured 43 feet long and 16 feet wide. Many of the coins found at Heracleion date to the time of King Ptolemy II, who ruled Egypt from 283 to 246 BC. Ptolemy II’s father was a companion and bodyguard of Alexander the Great. He participated in Alexander’s military campaigns and became governor of Egypt after the Macedonian Emperor’s death. Later, Ptolemy’s descendants became new pharaohs of independent Egypt. The city of Heracleion was clearly the main port for international trade and the collection of taxes.
So, the question is: how did a bustling city drown without leaving a trace?
The unsolved mystery is why exactly Heracleion sank. Some researchers suggest that the weight of the city’s buildings, combined with the relatively sandy soil on which it was built, could have created a sinkhole large enough to swallow Heracleion, particularly following a major geological event, like an earthquake. However, we have no records to prove that something like that happened; it’s all circumstantial. Thonis was initially constructed on a few nearby islands in the Nile Delta, around 15 miles from the location of Alexandria. Ferries, bridges, and pontoons connected its wharves, spectacular temples, and tower homes. In the 4th century BC, the temple underwent numerous additions under Pharaoh Nectanebo I. Heracleion’s temples, honoring Osiris and other deities, were known for their miraculous healing powers and drew visitors from all over Egypt.
Scientists are still challenged to answer what caused the city to slide into the sea nearly 1,000 years after its construction. It is generally agreed that gradual sea level rise and a sudden collapse of the city’s unstable sediment caused the whole area to sink by around 12 feet. Some researchers believe that the central island of Heracleion was already sagging under the weight of the main temple buildings and finally succumbed to liquefaction after a severe flood. It is ironic that if ancient Egyptian religion is to be believed, Hapi, the flood god of the Nile, was the cause of Heracleion sinking, and thousands of years later, his statue became the reason for the discovery of the ancient city.
It will be exciting to find out what the entire city of Heracleion would look like, but we will have to wait for a while.
Thanks for watching Nutty History! If you enjoyed our content, do not forget to like, subscribe, and hit the bell for notifications.
—
This version removes any inappropriate language and maintains a respectful tone while conveying the same information.
Heracleion – An ancient Egyptian city that was submerged underwater and rediscovered by archaeologists in the early 2000s. – The discovery of Heracleion provided historians with valuable insights into ancient Egyptian trade and culture.
Cleopatra – The last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, known for her intelligence and political acumen. – Cleopatra’s alliance with Julius Caesar and later Mark Antony played a crucial role in the history of ancient Rome and Egypt.
Archaeology – The scientific study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains. – Archaeology has helped us understand how ancient civilizations like the Egyptians and Romans lived and interacted with their environment.
Ancient – Belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence, often referring to civilizations or periods before the Middle Ages. – The ancient ruins of the Roman Colosseum attract millions of tourists each year, eager to learn about the history of the Roman Empire.
Egypt – A country in northeastern Africa known for its ancient civilization, pyramids, and the Nile River. – Egypt’s rich history includes the construction of the pyramids, which remain one of the most remarkable architectural feats of the ancient world.
Treasure – A collection of valuable objects, often from the past, such as gold, silver, and jewels, sometimes discovered during archaeological excavations. – The excavation of the tomb of Tutankhamun revealed a treasure trove of artifacts that provided insight into ancient Egyptian burial practices.
Mythology – A collection of myths, especially one belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition, often explaining natural phenomena or cultural practices. – Greek mythology includes stories of gods and heroes that have been passed down through generations and continue to influence modern culture.
Sinking – The process of gradually going below the surface of water or another liquid, often used to describe the fate of ancient cities or ships. – The sinking of the city of Heracleion beneath the Mediterranean Sea preserved many artifacts that have since been recovered by archaeologists.
Artifacts – Objects made by humans, typically of cultural or historical interest, that are discovered during archaeological digs. – The museum’s exhibit featured artifacts from the ancient Mayan civilization, including pottery and tools.
History – The study of past events, particularly in human affairs, often recorded in written documents or oral traditions. – Understanding history helps us learn from past mistakes and successes to shape a better future.
