Heracleion is a treasure palace submerged under the ocean . Archaeologists never cease to marvel every time they descend into its depths, discovering incredibly well-preserved figures, artifacts, jewelry, and utensils. An amazing legacy stranded on the Egyptian coast and discovered in the year 2000, which is still enveloped by that irresistible essence between mystery and enigma, which leaves no one indifferent. Would you like to know more? At Supercurioso we tell you the history of this city.
Heracleion | The incredible lost city under the sea
What happened to this city?Heracleion
The Greeks called it Heracleion and the Egyptians, for their part, Thonis. It was a splendid city that acquired considerable relevance from the 7th centuries BC. C. until the 8th century AD. C. Located in Abukir Bay on the coast of Egypt, it was founded by Alexander the Great, establishing it as a strategic point for the country's trade.
It is not known for sure what the causes of its disappearance were, the reason why this beautiful city ended up falling piece by piece under the sea. It is known that the forces of nature hit the coast hard during this time, leaving Heracleion just 6 km from the edge, and that it was then completely lost under the sea . Although the main suspicion is that there was a strong earthquake, with such virulence that it took away boats, houses, temples, and the entire population of the city in a few hours.
Many of the things we know about Heracleion come from the testimony of the great Greek historian called Herodotus. It is known that the ancient city received very intense boat traffic. In addition, Heraclein had a temple dedicated to the god Amun, and it is known that its inhabitants had numerous nationalities .
When and how did they discover it?Heracleion missing city
For two long millennia the city was hidden in the depths of Abukir Bay. Under the silt sediment and several meters deep. It was archaeologist Frank Goddio who found the remains during an underwater exploration. The first thing he discovered was a large wall 150 meters long, surrounding what looked like a large temple. It was something spectacular. The archaeologist little by little toured the area, seeing something really beautiful. There was a chapel with the image of the god Amun. Under this image a name appeared: Heracleion.
Goddio's team soon found something else the next day. His team found a shrine dedicated to Hercules . Since then the discoveries are continuous and the expectation caused around the ancient Heracleion has crossed borders. Researchers obtain countless pieces of the sunken city day after day. The pieces found ranged from religious instruments, brooches, bracelets, combs, 5-meter titanic sculptures to sarcophagi with mummified animals: yes, animals. All of these are amazing pieces perfectly preserved.
Another interesting aspect was the fact that more than seven hundred ancient anchors were found dating from the 6th century to the 2nd century BC, somehow showing us the number of ships that must have been in the city at that time. An economic nucleus that combined commerce with religious tradition, as witnessed by the large number of statues that decorated the city and that are being recovered little by little: three colossal statues of pink granite , bronze figures of gods with ritual purposes , pink granite steles from the reign of Ptolemy. All of these are wonders that we are getting to know day by day, of this city that for 2000 years has remained forgotten, silenced among the algae and the dawn of time.
Finds and curiositiesHeracleion mystery
Heracleio was the most opulent, prosperous and important city of the last pharaonic period . This became so because Thonis, as the city was known, was the commercial center of Egypt.
The city experienced the period of the fall of the pharaohs . Heracleion knew the beginning of the Hellenistic era. This with the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in the 3rd century. BC
The discovery of this city brings us closer to proving that Atlantis is not a myth . Heracleion was a myth just like Atlantis. After its sinking the existence of the city was forgotten and the Egyptian city became a myth. Perhaps this is also the case with Atlantis.
Helen of Troy and her lover Paris visited the city before the Trojan War . This is what Greek mythology tells us, the famous lovers passed through the city's port before the war broke out.
Hercules first set foot in Egypt in the city of Heracleion . Roman mythology also tells it this way. As you will see, the city was very important not only in commerce but as a religious place, in which characters from its mythology had participated. In any case, it is because of this myth of Hercules that the city built the famous temple that this research group would find millennia later. What's more, it was this Greek - and later Roman - god who gave the city its name: Hercules – Heracleion; and he took away his Greek name: Thonis.
So far this has been the greatest discovery in underwater archaeology . And they did not find a single large piece, but rather an entire city, and not just any one but the most opulent at the end of the non-Hellenistic pharaonic era. Furthermore, the water functioned as a capsule that kept the city and today it leaves us with an almost clear x-ray of what ancient Egypt was like.
Gold, jewels and coins were not missing in this discovery . As a good port and commercial city, Heracleion had a good reserve of gold and jewels.
The archaeological value is not only in the ruins of the city . Next to the ruins was found the largest collection of ancient shipwrecks. This has allowed research to be carried out on the progress that shipbuilding has had in Egypt.
It was always believed that baris were mythological ships: it turns out that they did exist . Herodotus narrated how gigantic cargo ships existed in ancient Egypt that transported all types of merchandise. Since these were never known, it was thought that this was just a myth. Well, the researchers found a giant ship but they believed it was not that old. But, after months of study they were able to affirm that this was a bari, these huge cargo ships described by the Greek historian.
The researchers found a strange sacred barge when they were finishing digging . It is very rare to find these boats in Egypt, although ancient images showed the existence of these boats. It is proposed that this ship was used as part of one of the many ceremonies held to celebrate the resurrection of the Egyptian god Osiris.
So far our approach to the discovery of Heracleion has come, we hope you liked it. Before you go, we want to remind you that at SUpercurioso we not only write, but we hope you do too. For this reason, we invite you to leave your opinions and contributions in the comments section below. Have you heard about the discovery of Heracleion? Would you add another curious fact to this entry? We read soon! And if you were left wanting more, we recommend this selection of incredible submerged cities .