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Egypt�s Supreme Council for Antiquities and Franck Goddio present the latest discoveries from the sunken city in the Nile Delta
Alexandria, 7th June 2001 - In collaboration with Egypt�s Supreme Council for Antiquities Franck Goddio has been engaged for many years in intensive research in the Bay of Aboukir, where last year he discovered Heracleion. Electronic investigations conducted 6.5 km from the current coastline turned up some very exciting archaeological finds. The known surviving antique texts indicate that the site must be the city of Heracleion, which once stood at the mouth of a branch of the Nile that has since disappeared in the sea. Before Alexandria was founded in the year 331 BC, the city was the port of entry to Egypt and an important customs post.
This year the team�s mission was to compile an initial inventory of the archaeological finds on the site. It became clear that these finds are concentrated in an area 1,000 m long and 800 m wide. A particularly valuable object was discovered near the sunken city�s harbour installations. Prof. Jean Yoyotte from the Coll�ge de France in Paris says: �We have here a fully intact black granite stela, 195 cm high; its dimensions and decorative work are practically identical to the famous Stela of Naukratis (Cairo Museum). That was discovered in 1899 and is inscribed with the edict of Pharaoh Nektanebos the First (378-362 BC) introducing a levy of 10 percent on Greek handicrafts and goods for the benefit of the temple to the Goddess Neith and ordering the stela to be set up in the town of Naukratis. Nektanebos I was the first Pharaoh of the thirtieth dynasty. The stela that has now been found differs from the Naukratis stone only in that at the end of the inscription a different site for its erection is named: Heracleion-Thonis.� The existence of two almost identical stelae is so far absolutely unique in the history of Egyptology.
 Accurate surveying work at the Heracleion site has revealed the extensive remains of buildings and harbour installations. A most significant find is the discovery of a harbour basin and, so far, 10 antique ships� wrecks, which means it is at last possible to locate the site of Heracleion port.
Near the remains of some thick walls, three colossal statues of pink granite, which had obviously broken when they fell to where they were found, were pulled from the sediment on the seabed. Together with H�pi, the Nile God of Flooding, the team recovered a Pharaoh and a Queen.  These impressive statues were found close by a monumental monolithic shrine (naos) made of pink granite inscribed with hieroglyphs from Ptolemaic times. According to the inscription, deciphered by Prof. Jean Yoyotte from the Coll�ge de France in Paris, this naos was the sanctuary in a temple dedicated to the Supreme God Amun. Here the god was revered as Amun-Gereb, the manifestation which conferred on the Pharaohs the legal right to rule Egypt. The Greeks associated Amun (or Amon) with their God Zeus and his son Khonsu with Heracles (Lat. Hercules). Finding these objects here shows that this must be the site of the Great Temple of Heracleion.
Further excavations in Heracleion�s temple area uncovered numerous artefacts. Bronze vessels, gold coins and jewellery were found in very well-preserved condition, together with several statues of excellent quality. None of the objects retrieved from the site is dated later than the first century before Christ.
 Heracleion was obviously destroyed by several natural disasters, including an earthquake. A series of geological measurements taken during this latest expedition by Professor Daniel Stanley from the Smithsonian Institute in Washington should provide some exact answers. The city of Heracleion probably sank much earlier than the second site, the suburb of Canopus. Here excavations during the year 2000 provided an astonishingly rich haul of archaeological material, with dates ranging from late Pharaonic up to early Islamic times.
Asked about the significance of the latest finds Franck Goddio says: �With the cartographic record of the seabed in the Bay of Aboukir and the new archaeological finds - in particular the Stela of Heracleion, the colossal statues and the naos of the temple, we are able to identify the town as Heracleion. That in turn allows us to assume we have found the famous Temple of Heracles-Khonsu, which, according to legend, was visited by Helena and Paris. We have, moreover, gained considerably more knowledge about the topography of the area around Canopus. Locating the harbour of Heracleion and the discovery of 10 antique ships� wrecks is a sensation, which we hope will lead to many more very interesting discoveries. The success of this year�s expedition has exceeded all our expectations and we are highly satisfied.�
Previously one could only speculate, but now Franck Goddio and his research team have produced results which shed new light on the accuracy of the historical records. Truth and legend lie very close together in these antique sources. To the Greeks, myths were an important aid to understanding the past and a means to connect with foreign countries. When writing of the exploits of Heracles, the Greek historian Diodor mentions Heracleion: once the waters of the Nile swelled into such a vast flood that all the dykes were breached. Heracles quickly stopped up the gap and guided the river back into its bed. In gratitude the local people built him a temple and called the town Heracleion.
In another well-known story, the Greek historian Herodotus, who visited the region, tells how beautiful Helena and her equally handsome beau, Paris, fled there to escape her jealous husband, Menelaos; However, Thonis, the watchman at the mouth of the Nile, had moral scruples and refused to help the adulterous couple. Later versions of the legend describe Thonis as an Egyptian king, after whom the town was named. Both tales explain how one and the same port town got its name; a town that had been Egypt�s gateway to the Mediterranean from the start of the New Kingdom and long before Alexandria was founded - Heracleion-Thonis.
Prof. Manfred Clauss, who holds the Chair in Ancient History at Frankfurt University, is delighted by the new historical facts coming to light. �The fantastic successes that Franck Goddio and Egypt�s Supreme Council for Antiquities have achieved so far with underwater archaeology give us a first glimpse of the history of a city that probably sank more than a thousand years ago. In view of the fact that antique texts tell us next to nothing about Heracleion-Thonis, every individual find, every scrap of information, is highly welcome to those involved in Egyptology, ancient history, and archaeology. Much remains to be done in the city of Heracles, whose labours might be a foretaste of the efforts still required. We look forward to the results of further research expeditions.�
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For further information on this project please contact
Iris Weissen, Salaction
Pictures by Christoph Gerigk
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