The Discovery of the Sunken City

With his remarkable study based methodology that uses the most modern specialized gear, Franck Goddio and his group from the IEASM, in collaboration with the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, had the capacity find, guide and exhume parts of the city of Thonis-Heracleion. The city is found inside a general exploration territory of 11 by 15 kilometers in the western piece of Aboukir Bay. Franck Goddio has discovered imperative data on the antiquated historic points of Thonis-Heracleion, for example, the excellent sanctuary of Amun and his child Khonsou (Herakles for the Greeks), the harbors that once controlled all exchange into Egypt, and the every day life of its tenants. He has additionally fathomed a noteworthy conundrum that has perplexed Egyptologists throughout the years: the archeological material has uncovered that Heracleion and Thonis were indeed one and the same city with two names; Heracleion being the name of the city for the Greeks and Thonis for the Egyptians.

The articles recuperated from the unearthings show the urban communities' excellence and eminence, the radiance of their stupendous sanctuaries and the plenitude of noteworthy confirmation: titanic statues, engravings and design components, gems and coins, custom items and earthenware production - a civilization solidified in time.

The amount and nature of the archeological material exhumed from the site of Thonis-Heracleion demonstrate that this city had known a period of plushness and a top in its occupation from the sixth to the fourth century BC. This is promptly seen in the huge amount of coins and ceramics dated to this period.

The port of Thonis-Heracleion had various vast bowls and worked as a center of worldwide exchange. The exceptional action in the port encouraged the city's flourishing. More than seven hundred antiquated grapples of different structures and more than 60 disaster areas dating from the sixth to the second century BC are likewise a persuasive affirmation to the force of sea movement here.

The city expanded all around the sanctuary and a system of trenches in and around the city must have issued it a lake staying appearance. On the islands and islets abodes and auxiliary asylums were placed. Unearthings here have uncovered lovely archeological material, for example, bronze statuettes. On the north side of the sanctuary to Herakles, a thousand channel moved through the city from east to west and joined the port bowls with a lake toward the west.