Recent Findings Along the Egyptian Shore Uncover "Riches and Enigmas"

Recently unveiled "valuables and enigmas" have emerged from the depths of a submerged temple located off the Mediterranean coastline of Egypt.

A subaqueous archaeological squad, under the guidance of French maritime archaeologist Franck Goddio, has uncovered further revelations at the site of a place of worship dedicated to the deity Amun, situated within the ancient seaport of Thonis-Heracleion in the Bay of Aboukir, as per the institute's statement.

The team embarked on an exploration of the southern canal of the city, where substantial stone blocks from the ancient temple crumbled “during a cataclysmic event dated to the mid-second century BC,” the institute explained.

The temple devoted to Amun served as the place where pharaohs would "attain their titles as all-encompassing rulers from the supreme deity of the ancient Egyptian pantheon," the statement noted.

“Precious objects belonging to the temple treasury have been unearthed, such as silver ritual instruments, gold jewelry and fragile alabaster containers for perfumes or unguents. They bear witness to the wealth of this sanctuary and the piety of the former inhabitants of the port city,” IEASM reported.

The collaborative archaeological excavations, overseen by Goddio's team in conjunction with the Department of Subaquatic Archaeology within the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt, unveiled subterranean structures "sustained by exceptionally well-preserved wooden posts and beams originating from the 5th century BC," according to the institute.

“It is extremely moving to discover such delicate objects, which survived intact despite the violence and magnitude of the cataclysm,” remarked Goddio, who serves as the president of IEASM and the director of these excavations.

The breakthroughs were rendered possible through the innovation and application of innovative geophysical prospecting technologies capable of detecting voids and objects "entombed beneath layers of clay several meters in thickness," the institute affirmed.

Additionally, to the east of the Amun temple, a Greek sanctuary devoted to Aphrodite was unearthed, containing bronze and ceramic artifacts.

“This illustrates that Greeks who were allowed to trade and settle in the city during the time of the Pharaohs of the Saïte dynasty (664 - 525 BC) had their sanctuaries to their own gods,” elucidated the institute.

Furthermore, the discovery of Greek weaponry indicates the presence of Greek mercenaries in the vicinity, as confirmed by IEASM. These mercenaries were entrusted with safeguarding access to the Kingdom situated at the mouth of the Canopic Branch of the Nile, a waterway recognized as the largest and most navigable in antiquity.

The remnants of Thonis-Heracleion are currently submerged beneath the sea, positioned 7 kilometers (approximately 4.3 miles) from Egypt's present-day coastline, as detailed by IEASM. For numerous centuries, the city functioned as Egypt's principal Mediterranean port prior to the establishment of Alexandria by Alexander the Great in 331 BC.

The institute expounded, "Elevated sea levels, seismic activity, and subsequent tidal surges, which induced land liquefaction events, led to the submersion of a 110 square kilometer expanse of the Nile delta beneath the sea, subsuming the city of Thonis-Heracleion."

IEASM's pioneering discovery of the city dates back to the year 2000.

 

Source: edition.cnn.com