A limestone votive hand emerges from sediment during an archaeological excavation at Thonis Heraklion.
For centuries it was the main port Egypt but a series of natural disasters – several earthquakes and tidal waves – buried him under water. European mission led by Frank Goddiodiscovered a flooded city more than two decades ago Thonis-Heraklion. Since then, each annual expedition has revealed its wonders. This time the team managed to recover after Mediterranean collection of objects used in the temple Amon and during his dives he discovered a Greek sanctuary dedicated to Aphrodite.
“It is very interesting to find such fragile objects that have survived intact from the violence and scale of the cataclysm,” admits Franck Goddio, a renowned French archaeologist who founded and heads the European Institute of Underwater Archaeology, responsible for the veterans who listen to the street. map of the city of Thonis-Heraklion, located seven kilometers from the current coast of Egypt.
Survivors of the cataclysm
In the latest campaign, the expedition, which also involves the Department of Underwater Archeology of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, focused its work on the city’s southern channel, in the sector where huge boulders collapsed. a temple dedicated to the god Amon, where the pharaohs made pilgrimages to receive from the supreme god of the ancient Egyptian pantheon the titles of their power as universal kings.
They testify to the wealth of this sanctuary and the piety of the ancient inhabitants of this port city.
An earthquake in the middle of the 2nd century BC led to the collapse of the building. Now, the project, using new underwater excavation equipment, has discovered some objects that were buried underwater, under dense sediment several meters thick. Among the items found were silver ritual instruments, gold jewelry and fragile alabaster containers for perfumes and ointments. “They are a testament to the wealth of this sanctuary and the piety of its former inhabitants of this port city,” admits the team now in charge of returning them to earth.
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Jewelry
Gold objects, jewelry and painted lapis lazuli pillar; It is a symbol of stability associated with the gods Osiris and Ptah. Thonis-Heraklion, 4th century BC.
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Temple blocks
After the excavations, the diver-archaeologist contemplates the huge blocks of the Temple of Amun-Gereb, which sank in the middle of the 2nd century BC in the southern strait of Thonis-Heraklion.
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Bronze dispenser
An elegant bronze duck-shaped dispenser found among pottery from the 4th century BC at the Greek sanctuary of Aphrodite at Thonis Heraklion.
Opening of a sanctuary dedicated to Aphrodite.
The search also revealed underground structures supported by very well-preserved wooden posts and beams dating back to the 5th century BC. from C and which are located at a depth of several meters under the temple. And to the east of the building in which Amun-Gereb was worshiped, a Greek sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite, built in the 5th century BC, was discovered.
Inside, the remains of imported bronze and ceramic objects were found, which, according to the mission, indicates that “the Greeks were able to trade and settle in the city by the decision of the pharaohs of the Sait dynasty (664-525 BC). ” and they even received approval from the authorities of that time to build their own sanctuaries. “The presence of Greek mercenaries is demonstrated by the numerous Greek weapons found in the area of this port city, located at the mouth of the Canopic branch of the Nile, the longest and most navigable since ancient times and from where the entrance to Egypt was controlled,” the team adds.
The presence of Greek mercenaries is confirmed by the numerous Greek weapons found in the area.
A chain of natural disasters, including several earthquakes and tsunamis, sent Thonis-Heraklion and a 110-square-kilometer stretch of the Nile Delta to the depths of the seabed. Thonis Heraklion was Egypt’s main port for centuries before Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 331 BC.
Since the 8th century AD, layers of sand and sediment have hidden the shipwrecks of this city and nearby Canopus, which once dominated the Egyptian Mediterranean. For two decades, during the first weeks of summer, Goddio’s team dived into Aboukir Bay in search of new research to restore its lost splendor.
“Every new campaign raises a lot of questions,” admits Goddio. The two cities that his team managed to revive were united by the cult of Osiris, the son of Earth and Heaven, who, according to Egyptian mythology, was first thrown into the Nile and then torn into 14 pieces by his brother Set. Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris, collected the fragments scattered throughout Egypt. He never found the phallus. With the magic of her word, the widow resurrected Osiris long enough to conceive Horus, who ultimately defeated her father’s murderer.
“There was a mystical connection between the two cities associated with Osiris. In short, we are in the land of Osiris,” says Goddio. Within the walls of these two cities were famous sanctuaries dedicated to Osiris, through which pilgrims passed in search of miraculous healings. “Since the discovery of the Canopic Decree Stele in 1881, we have known that celebrations of the Mysteries of Osiris took place in the Temple of Amun-Gereb in the city of Heraklion. There is also a mention of a sea procession of the deity from this temple to his sanctuary in Canopus,” emphasizes the French archaeologist.
Source: El Independiente
