These divers found a city lost for over thousands of years and its relics under water!

Buried Deep

Finally, hidden 6.5 kilometers off Alexandria’s coast under water was the city of Thonis-Heracleion. Aurélia Masson-Berghoff, curator of the Sunken Cities exhibition at the British Museum said, “As an archaeologist, discovering a tomb is exciting, but it’s the tomb of one individual.” She continued,  “Discovering a whole city, which was home to thousands and thousands of people over more than a thousand years … Well, that’s something else.”

The Finds

Frank Goddio and his team of archaeologists found 64 ships, 700 anchors, statues as tall as 16 feet, treasure chests of gold coins among the underwater ruins. And this was not even the beginning. Just imagine what an entire city takes to be built. That is all that these researchers found and the images ahead are breathtaking. There were also temple ruins, jewelry, pottery equipment, oil lamps and much more.

The Temple

Among the most breathtaking finds were the remains of a temple dedicated to the g0d Amun-Gereb and the sarcophagi of animals that were chosen for offerings. What is surprising is that even after being submerged underwater for well over 2000 years the artifacts constructed out of granite and diorite are well preserved and give a good look into the life of this port city of centuries old.

Hub For International Commerce

From what has been found till now, it is clear that Thonis-Heracleion was a bustling town a cosmopolitan entrance to the Mediterranean and its connection to the western world. It was a city of temples and tower houses, garlanded by harbors and all linked by a network of bridges and ferries- the city was responsible for the most traffic coming to Egypt via sea from the Mediterranean. Imagine having discovered all this knowledge AFTER digging out a buried city.

How It Began

It actually began in 1933 when a pilot was supposed to have spotted something in the waters off Egypt’s coast. By the end of that century, the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology had sent a team to find the lost city. The team took years to chart out maps and a lot of technological aid was taken as the visibility in the waters was low. One researcher said, “the sea is all stirred up, and charged with floating sand and mud that makes it difficult for us divers to see what is going on.”

The City Of Heracleion

This is a recreation of how the city would have looked like when it existed and this recreation was only possible after what the researchers found underwater. This is the place where after abducting Helen, Paris of Troy sought refuge. This is also the city where the hero Heracles set foot in Africa for the first time. How lucky the archaeologist community is to have found this place so rich in history. We were more boggled than they were after looking at the artifacts they brought to the surface.