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Forum > General Discussion
Lost Cities and Civilizations
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AGelbert:
From Legend to Reality
Thonis-Heracleion (the Egyptian and Greek names of the city) is a city lost between legend and reality. Before the foundation of Alexandria in 331 BC, the city knew glorious times as the obligatory port of entry to Egypt for all ships coming from the Greek world. It had also a religious importance because of the temple of Amun, which played an important role in rites associated with dynasty continuity.
The city was founded probably around the 8th century BC, underwent diverse natural catastrophes, and finally sunk entirely into the depths of the Mediterranean in the 8th century AD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n5Bb_UOS4I&feature=player_embedded
Prior to its discovery in 2000 by the IEASM, no trace of Thonis-Heracleion had been found. Its name was almost razed from the memory of mankind, only preserved in ancient classic texts and rare inscriptions found on land by archaeologists.
The Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) tells us of a great temple that was built where the famous hero Herakles first set foot on to Egypt. He also reports of Helen’s visit to Heracleion with her lover Paris before the Trojan War. More than four centuries after Herodotus’ visit to Egypt, the geographer Strabo observed that the city of Heracleion, which possessed the temple of Herakles, is located straight to the east of Canopus at the mouth of the Canopic branch of the River Nile.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQez7ojgQDk&feature=player_embedded
The Discovery
With his unique survey-based approach that utilises the most sophisticated technical equipment, Franck Goddio and his team from the IEASM, in cooperation with the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, were able to locate, map and excavate parts of the city of Thonis-Heracleion, which lies 6.5 kilometres off today’s coastline.
The city is located within an overall research area of 11 by 15 kilometres in the western part of Aboukir Bay. Franck Goddio has found important information on the ancient landmarks of Thonis-Heracleion, such as the grand temple of Amun and his son Khonsou (Herakles for the Greeks), the harbours that once controlled all trade into Egypt, and the daily life of its inhabitants.
He has also solved a historic enigma that has puzzled Egyptologists over the years: the archaeological material has revealed that Heracleion and Thonis were in fact one and the same city with two names; Heracleion being the name of the city for the Greeks and Thonis for the Egyptians.
The objects recovered from the excavations illustrate the cities’ beauty and glory, the magnificence of their grand temples and the abundance of historic evidence: colossal statues, inscriptions and architectural elements, jewelry and coins, ritual objects and ceramics - a civilization frozen in time.
The quantity and quality of the archaeological material excavated from the site of Thonis-Heracleion show that this city had known a time of opulence and a peak in its occupation from the 6th to the 4th century BC. This is readily seen in the large quantity of coins and ceramics dated to this period.
The port of Thonis-Heracleion had numerous large basins and functioned as a hub of international trade. The intense activity in the port fostered the city’s prosperity. More than seven hundred ancient anchors of various forms and over 60 wrecks dating from the 6th to the 2nd century BC are also an eloquent testimony to the intensity of maritime activity here.
The city extended all around the temple and a network of canals in and around the city must have given it a lake dwelling appearance. On the islands and islets dwellings and secondary sanctuaries were located. Excavations here have revealed beautiful archaeological material such as bronze statuettes. On the north side of the temple to Herakles, a grand canal flowed through the city from east to west and connected the port basins with a lake to the west.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6rz3iagcKk&feature=player_embedded
http://www.franckgoddio.org/projects/sunken-civilizations/heracleion.html
Surly1:
This story- and the videos- are just extraordinary, AG.
AGelbert:
Thanks Surly. I cannot figure out why, with the huge spike in the daily views I have on my DD newz channel, more people don't agree that I've got good content, visit my sight to jack up my views, and register. I don't get it. ???
I have discussed the page hit count mystery with create-a-forum support. No answer from them yet. I'm learning CSS so I can take this baby apart and put it back together any way I want, whenever I want (same with wikidot!). I am tired of all this web software mystery out there. I am putting my programmer hat on from many years ago and I'm going get this stuff DOWN once and for all. >:( ;)
The Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. article is almost done. There REALLY WAS a "SHERLOCK HOLMES" connection! Arthur Conan Doyle gave Sherlock the "Holmes" last name in honor of Holmes' father, a noted medical doctor. ;D
Surly1:
When you put your plumber's hat on, fix the "quote" function, willy a?
As to why people don'r register, who can say? I would think that anyone who follows one of your links from D would have to end up here, yes?
Anyhow, the thread of lost civilizations is compelling to me. Too many oddball and out of place artifacts without explanation have been discovered for me to believe that the conventional narrative of history is true...
AGelbert:
--- Quote from: Surly1 on November 14, 2013, 06:54:24 am ---When you put your plumber's hat on, fix the "quote" function, willy a?
As to why people don'r register, who can say? I would think that anyone who follows one of your links from D would have to end up here, yes?
Anyhow, the thread of lost civilizations is compelling to me. Too many oddball and out of place artifacts without explanation have been discovered for me to believe that the conventional narrative of history is true...
--- End quote ---
This is a test.
Okay, that worked. BUT, to make it work I had to RIGHT click on the quote and select "open in new tab". At the new tab the reply was set up with the quoted post. Weird, I know. But you can make it work that way until I figure out how to make it work like it does in the DD forum. I am now going to log out as Admin and log in as a guest to see if it works for the lowest common denominator of posters.
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