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Layout of the sunken ancient city of Alexandria
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On 10 April 2001, Franck Goddio presented for the first time his complete map of the sunken quarters of Alexandria. As part of the press view for the British Museum�s exhibition �Cleopatra of Egypt: From History to Myth�, the presentation took place at 11.30 am in the BP Lecture Theatre.
In 1996, after several years of research in co-operation with the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquity and supported by the Hilti Foundation, Goddio discovered the fabled royal city quarters which had been lost for more than 1,000 years.
Since then, Goddio and his team of archaeologists, historians, geophysicists and divers, have researched and charted the complete harbour with the remains of palaces, temples and harbours, as well as the famous royal island of Antirhodos. Especially interesting were the many foundations, columns, statues, granite blocks and smaller items, as well as an ancient shipwreck, lying in the harbour of the sunken island, which were found during the survey and excavation activities.
This geophysical data has been charted onto a new map which is significantly different from all other previous maps both ancient and modern. The map will provide valuable new information for archaeologists and Egyptologists alike. Franck Goddio comments: "Soon after the first electronic surveys of the harbour, we realized that the topography of the ancient quarters of Alexandria was totally different from what had been assumed until now".
The first map of the topography of the harbour was created in 1866 by Mahmud Bey el-Falaki. This was based on texts by Strabo, Julius Caesar, Flavius Josephus and Pliny the Elder, among others. Subsequent maps of the 19th and 20th centuries have all been largely based on this first map. The old maps assumed that during ancient times, most harbour structures and buildings were only in the eastern part of the present port. But, surprisingly, Goddio�s work in 2000, Goddio has also uncovered foundations and port structures in the western part.
Copyright � 2000 - 2004 The Franck Goddio Society. All rights reserved.
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