New archaeological treasures found in the Bay of Aboukir
Franck Goddio and his team discover a galley in the sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion
For 25 years, the European Institute of Underwater Archaeology (IEASM), led by Franck Goddio, has been working in the Nile Delta region in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt. This unique research project has been financed by the Hilti Foundation since its inception. While excavation work had to be interrupted last year due to the pandemic, the latest research campaign in spring 2021 was marked by impressive results.
One of the most remarkable finds is that of a Ptolemaic galley recovered from the sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion in the Bay of Abukir. It probably sank when large chunks of rock from the famous temple of Amun, which was completely destroyed by an earthquake in the 2nd century BC, fell on it. The galley must have been moored along the southern facade of the temple when the disaster occurred. Remains of the boat could be preserved for thousands of years at the bottom of the deep channel, protected by the ruins of the temple. The galley, which was discovered with the help of the prototype of a new sedimentary echosounder, lies along with the remains of the temple under a layer of hard clay nearly five meters thick.
"Such a find of fast galleys from this period is extremely rare," explains Franck Goddio, "The only other known vessel of this type is the Punic Marsala Boat (235 BC), discovered in 1969 off the coast of Sicily. Before this discovery, Hellenistic ships of this type were completely unknown to archaeologists. Our preliminary study shows that the hull of this galley was built in the Classical tradition and relied on long mortise-and-tenon joints and well-developed internal structure. However, it also contains features of ancient Egyptian construction and allows us to speak of a mixed type of construction. It was a rowing ship that was also furnished with a large sail, as shown by a mast step of considerable dimensions. This long boat was flat-bottomed and had a flat keel, which was quite advantageous for navigation on the Nile and in the Delta. Some typical ancient Egyptian shipbuilding features, together with the evidence for a reuse of wood in the ship, indicate that it was built in Egypt. With a length of more than 25 m it had a length to breadth ratio close to 6 to 1.”
In another part of the city, a tumulus stretching alongside the north-east entrance canal revealed remains of a large Greek funerary area covered with sumptuous funerary offerings. They date back to the very first years of the 4th century BC. This discovery beautifully illustrates the presence of Greek merchants and mercenaries who lived in Thonis–Heracleion, the city that controlled the entrance to Egypt at the mouth of the Canopic branch of the Nile. The Greeks were allowed to settle in the city during the late Pharaonic period. They built their own sanctuaries close to the huge temple of Amun. These were also destroyed in the cataclysm, and their remains are found mixed with those of the Egyptian temple.
Important remains of the temple of Amun slipped into the deep canal during a landslide caused by a liquefaction event. They were found in a pristine condition. They bear witness to the richness of the sanctuaries in Thonis-Heracleion, now located under the sea, 7 kilometers from the present coast of Egypt. Thonis-Heracleion was for centuries the largest port of Egypt on the Mediterranean before Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 331 BC. Several earthquakes, followed by tidal-waves which triggered land liquefaction events, caused a 110 square kilometers portion of the Nile delta to collapse under the sea, taking with it the cities of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus. Both cities were rediscovered by the IEASM, in 2000 and 1999 respectively.