Life in 17th-century Port Royal, Jamaica, was marked by the hedonistic ways of pirates. According to this widely circulated report, underwater archaeologists have discovered what they believe to be the remains of a large Egyptian army at the bottom of the Red Sea. Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled al-Anani opened the exhibition on Feb. 10. … Suez | Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry announced this morning that a team of underwater archaeologists had discovered that remains of a large Egyptian army from the 14th century BC, at the bottom of the Gulf of Suez, 1.5 kilometers offshore from the modern city of Ras Gharib. Map of Ancient Egypt at the mouth of the Nile. Ancient authors such as the Greek historian Herodotus from the 5th century BC wrote about Heracleion, a great temple city in honor of Amun, the Egyptian god of the sun and the air. The city, Thonis-Heracleion, which had become more legend than fact, was discovered in 2001 by Franck Goddio and the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology. The team also looked at the underwater site of Canopus, which, like Heracleion, is located in the Gulf of Abu Qir, Alexandria. Supposedly, the archaeologists ‘stumbled upon a gigantic mass of human bones darkened by age’ and also found weapons, armour and war chariots. Its remains are located in Abu Qir Bay, currently 2.5 km off the coast, under 10 m (30 ft) of water. After a significant restoration project helmed by the Ministry and the Getty Conservation Institute in New York, King Tut’s tomb, as it is affectionately known, is on exhibition once again. Heracleion was built in about the 8th century BC on sandy and hard clay soil that was already being permeated by water when the city was active. The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities recently made quite the shocking discovery as they came across proof of a historical event from the Bible has actually happened in the past to everyone’s surprise. The Lost City of Heracleion. HARI SREENIVASAN: An exhibition of Egyptian artifacts discovered in ancient cities buried underwater has opened to the public in Paris. Situated in a sandy desert of Sudan not far from the Nile, 20 such pyramids rise from the landscape in Nuri, an ancient burial site where the tombs of Egypt’s black pharaohs are located. https://t.co/RR0nZOH2Yx #Heracleion, — Talking Pyramids (@Bennu) August 20, 2019. They recovered gold jewelry, coins, pieces of a temple, and even a broken-off part of an ancient boat used in rituals and ceremonies. The underwater city of Heraclion is one of the sunken jewels of Ancient Egypt. From bizarre hieroglyphics, the real taste of Egyptian bread to temples underwater, you can now enjoy the best of Egyptology’s latest season. The “Israeli” artifacts, found locally, include a great deal of pottery and a whole lot of coins – mainly silver coins from the Seleucid period. Goddio also found seven hundred anchors lined up as if in spaces in a parking lot, according to Archeology World, and sixty four ancient shipwrecks lying on the floor close to what was once the harbor in the Mediterranean Sea. While not as rich or opulent as the treasures in Tut’s tomb, the finds in Heracleion are so well preserved they offer a glimpse into the lives of Greeks and Egyptians during the time that Heracleion was a bustling major port in Egypt. A joint Egyptian-Spanish archaeological mission discovered the coffin in the Draa Abul Naga necropolis in Luxor, in the south of Egypt. “One of only three artifacts ever recovered from inside Egypt’s Great Pyramid has been found in a misplaced cigar tin in a Scottish university collection,” the article said. One particular stele recorded ships that came into port and the taxes and duties they owed and paid. Related Article: The 4 Most Intriguing Lost Underwater Cities of the World. Among the artifacts hailing from ancient Egypt, the investigators found decorated sarcophagus lids, painted wooden boxes in Egyptian style, statues of gods in faience, and more. Join 1000s of subscribers and receive the best Vintage News in your mailbox for FREE, Police arrest a 72-year-old “suburban grandfather” suspected of being the Golden State Killer, “I’m not dead yet”: some Buddhist monks followed self-mummification, Project Azorian: Howard Hughes’ secret mission, 1960s U.S. satellite that started transmitting again in 2013, The “Walk of Shame” in Game of Thrones historical inspiration, The only unsolved skyjacking case in U.S. history might have a break, Kurt Gödel became too paranoid to eat and died of starvation, “Little Ease”: One of the most feared torture devices in the Tower of London, The humble English girl who became Cora Pearl, Walt Disney softened the original Snow White story. Heracleion is an ancient Egyptian city that lay hidden under the sea for 1,500 years until 1933, when an British RAF pilot flying over Alexandria spotted something in the water. The farther he moved around the area, the more artifacts and evidence of structures he found making his discovery arguably as important as the opening of King Tut’s tomb in 1922. This particular part of the dig took place during two months of the summer, this year. Other rare treasures and artifacts discovered since recovery began include columns, and leftover pieces of a Greek temple. These antiquities, the Ministry said, confirmed that Canopus was also a thriving, busy city in the 4th century B.C. Although scientists and divers first came upon the site in 2000, in the Mediterranean, this past summer a team found an array of valuable antiquities that had been previously undiscovered. It was a cataclysmic event, much like … Ancient cultures, in particular, have left amazing treasures in the murky gloom of the ocean, and occasionally even experienced divers are startled by what they recover. Surprisingly, many of the objects found were of Greek origin with Egyptian names and vice-versa, showing how closely the two counties traded together. With the rise and fall of sea levels and earthquakes that frequent the area, Heracleion eventually slipped under the water where it rests now at about 1500 feet, according to Ancient Origins. One of the first things he found was a beautiful gold plated chariot wheel, very fragile but clearly visible in the clear waters of the Red Sea! This is the city where Paris and Helen hid before the Trojan War and the city that hosted Herakles. Hundreds of amulets, small statues of gods, and sarcophagi of animal mummies that were sacrificed to Amun were brought up and preserved. The discoveries include a huge statue of the god Hapi, a statue of the classic Egyptian goddess Isis, a head of an unidentified Pharaoh and a number of smaller statues of Egyptian gods, figures and queens. There, they have recovered so far rare artifacts like rings, earrings and coins. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts presents Treasures of Ancient Egypt: Sunken Cities. Later, Wyatt and his sons found numerous other man-made artifacts and chariot wheels. This is the city where Paris and Helen hid before the Trojan War and the city that hosted Herakles. Interestingly, dozens of sarcophagi containing the bodies of mummified animals sacrificed to Amun-Gereb were found. Heracleion Photos: Lost Egyptian City Artifacts Unearthed After 1,200 Years Under Sea According to the Telegraph, leading research now suggests that Thonis-Heracleion served as a mandatory port of entry for trade between the Mediterranean and the Nile. The missing piece of the ceremonial boat #61, as researchers refer to it, indicate it was very large, 43 feet long and 16 feet wide. The underwater artifacts come from the ancient cities of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus, which are now submerged off the coast of the Bay of Aboukir near Alexandria. A stele found on the site indicates that it was one single city known by both its Egyptian and Greek names. Millions of visitors have toured the tomb since it first went on display. Join 1000s of subscribers and receive the best Vintage News in your mailbox for FREE, Police arrest a 72-year-old “suburban grandfather” suspected of being the Golden State Killer, “I’m not dead yet”: some Buddhist monks followed self-mummification, Project Azorian: Howard Hughes’ secret mission, 1960s U.S. satellite that started transmitting again in 2013, The “Walk of Shame” in Game of Thrones historical inspiration, The only unsolved skyjacking case in U.S. history might have a break, Kurt Gödel became too paranoid to eat and died of starvation, “Little Ease”: One of the most feared torture devices in the Tower of London, The humble English girl who became Cora Pearl, Walt Disney softened the original Snow White story. Once a bustling metropolis, this long-lost Egyptian city flooded, sank, and was forgotten — until archeologists rediscovered it. Everything from ships to human remains have been discovered at one time or another on the ocean floor. Even an age-old mystery concerning the cities of Thonis and Heracleion was solved when Goddio realized from the hieroglyphics that Thonis was the Egyptian name and Heracleion was the Greek name for the same city. Dive into one of the most astonishing underwater discoveries of all time. In addition to their operation there, the team is leading an underwater dig at Canopus, in the Gulf of Qir, Alexandria. Port Royal. Jewelry was found buried with the mummified woman. #AncientSiteSunday pic.twitter.com/d43tNqi5pj, — Digital Maps of the Ancient World (@DigitalMapsAW) September 22, 2019. Although the almost-two decades they’ve been diving has given them much, including 75 boats, they were particularly pleased to recover a special item from the boat used ceremonially. Canals were built into the city, making it almost Venice-like, and residences were built on areas away from the center of town as if they were in a suburb. Wyatt began investigating underwater off the coast of Neweiba Beach. Heracleion can be found on the left. Osama Al-Nahas, head of the Underwater Archaeology Department at the ministry, told Egyptian news site Al-Ahram that the eastern harbor of Alexandria likely retains many archaeological wonders. Some historians also believe Cleopatra III was installed as Pharaoh in this temple. One particularly magnificent “unearthed” find usually on display at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo is the tomb of King Tutankhamen, discovered in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. Related Article: The 4 Most Intriguing Lost Underwater Cities of the World. This device consists of a 5-1/2-inch high clay vessel, … The ruins of a temple were discovered in the now-underwater ancient Egyptian city of Heracleion. Ancient underwater city #heracleion long hidden suddenly revealed… https://t.co/noOjtgQVeM pic.twitter.com/o25Bj74lGw, — Christian Furr (@Pientello) October 15, 2017. They also found remains of an ancient port at Canopus, and a set of buildings that confirm that the city was growing outward, in a southern direction. As Alexandria grew in power and status, Heracleion waned and almost became an afterthought. In the late 1700s, pieces of an Egyptian shrine were found, pointing the way for Franck Goddio and a team of underwater archaeologists to uncover the lost underwater cities in the early 2000s. In addition to the coins, the team found pottery going back to the 3rd and 4th centuries B.C. Approximately 1500 years ago, the city flooded, and today it lies 150 feet under water, on the ocean floor. The ancient city was one of the most important ports in Egypt until Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BC and went on to found Alexandria about twenty miles away, which became the largest and most prosperous city at the time. The very man who found them under 30 feet of water off the Egyptian coast is underwater archeologist Franck Goddio. 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