Submerged
for more than a thousand years, the ancient Egyptian city of Thonis-Heracleion
was only recently rediscovered by Franck Goddio and his team at the European
Institute for Underwater Archaeology.
Thonis-Heracleion
was named after the Greek hero Herakles. It was one of Egypt’s most important
harbour towns between about 600 and 100 BC. Located
on the Mediterranean coast at the mouth of the Canopic branch of the Nile, the
city guarded the western entrance to Egypt and controlled its
maritime trade. The whole site consists of several islands, with a network of
channels and port basins connecting the inland areas with the Mediterranean Sea
and the Nile.
Thonis-Heracleion was also a major religious centre – the two
most important temples discovered so far are dedicated to Amun, king of the
Egyptian gods, and his son Khonsu-the-Child (who was identified with the Greek
Herakles).
Find out more about Thonis-Heracleion and its
amazing rediscovery in the BP exhibition Sunken cities: Egypt’s lost worlds
(19 May – 27 Nov 2016).
