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Aboukir by André Bernand, Paris, April 15, 2000.
Along the entire Egyptian coastline, the Bay of Aboukir certainly promises the most spectacular archaeological discoveries. Its vast extent and relatively little depth must indeed contain a number of monuments and vestiges of which any discoveries made so far can only produce a vague idea.
 The accounts of ancient writers of what was then called Canopus are so numerous that they can already, by themselves, provide an idea of what this city became after the foundation of Alexandria in 331 B. C, during hellenistic and imperial times. From the reflections of Hecateus of Milet (end of the 6th century B. C.), the allusions of tragical authors like Aeschylus, the writings of Herodotus (5th century B. C.), the poems of Callimachus, Poseidippos or Nicander, through the capital travel reports of Strabo (66 B. C. - 24 A. D.), Aelius Aristides (129-172 A. D.) or Pausanias, up to the Fathers of the Church like Saint Epiphany of Salamis, Rufinus of Aquilaea, Eunapius, Saint Jerome, Zachary the Rhetoric, Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem (7th century A. D.). Quite a collection of texts offer a wide range of information.
The papyrus sources also contribute precious indications concerning passages and waterways in the Delta, regional production, public works in the Heracleopolite nome, and the heights of the Nile floods.
The Greek inscriptions, amounting to some thirty in total, provide further direction for the search for monuments in the region and to what can reasonably be expected of the today still buried relics under the water.
 The travellers have never ceased since the 18th century to stroll along the beaches of Aboukir Bay. N. Granger wrote in 1730: «From the Bekiers (= Aboukir) up to Alexandria, one walks between ruins». Richard Pococke did the same in 1737, as well as C.S. Sonnini in 1777. In 1798, Vivant Denon only followed the shoreline. Then, in 1859, the engineer Larousse of the Suez Company summarily sounded the depth of the canopic arm of the Nile. In 1891, A. Daninos carried out a surface exploration and soundings at various points on Cape Zephyrium, N.E. of fort Tewfikieh. Evaristo Breccia, the director of the Greco-Roman museum in Alexandria between 1906 and 1932, had consistently followed his great curiosity for the region of Aboukir, helped by Prince Omar Toussoum, who owned the land around Aboukir and Maamourah and had great wisdom and knowledge of the Delta. Breccia’s most successful initiative was a short underwater search off Ramleh Fort, where Roman thermals, basins, and cisterns were found. The southern part of the area around Fort Tewfikieh released the major relics, many of which stem from a Serapeion buried under the water, and perhaps also an Iseion. G. Daressy established in 1929 that ancient Thonis, which according to him was the same as Herakleion, was situated under the water some 3,5 km east of Cape Zephyrium, and that ancient Menouthis, also submerged, was situated between Thonis and Cape Zephyrion. The site for Menouthis under the water was confirmed by observations from the air by Group Captain Cull, who commanded the RAF base at Aboukir, as well as by observations of a diver on 5 May 1933, ordered by Prince Omar Toussoum. It was during this operation that the «head of Alexander the Great from Aboukir Bay» was found. Part of the city of Canopus as well as Menouthis and Herakleion are thus situated at the bottom of the bay. Observation of the ancient river bed of the Canopic Nile and of the coastal profile, the evaluation of the silting and subsidence process, the study of the rise of the sea level, will all be important for a reconstruction of the ancient topography. Undoubtedly, the submerged towns have preserved their avenues, as well as their monuments and documentary relics.
 Famous texts allow us to imagine discoveries which could be in the offing. Let us for example read the famous decree established by the priests assembled in Canopus in honour of King Ptolemy III Evergetus, his wife, and his daughter, a trilingual decree (hieroglyphic, Demotic and Greek), known to us through the steles of Kom el-Hisn and of Tanis, dated from 7 March 238 B. C.. It states that the priests of the major temples of Egypt were assembled «in the sanctuary of the Benefactor God in Canopus». The decree specifies that the statue of Princess Berenice was to be set up «with Osiris in the sanctuary of Canopus, which is not only one of the sanctuaries of the first order, but also among those most revered by the king and the inhabitants of the country». Finally, it tells us «that each year, the sacred barque of Osiris sails up to this sanctuary from that of Herakleion on the 29th day of the month of Choiak, while all the priests of the sanctuaries of the first order celebrate sacrifices on the altars they have set up for each of these sanctuaries on either side of the ship’s course».
One further text among many others may set one dreaming, i.e. the Life of Severius written by Zachary the Rhetoric between 511 and 518 B. C. He describes how the idols discovered at Menouthis were transported to Alexandria: «After due prayer, we left for Menouthis and arrived at a house which was totally covered with pagan inscriptions (hieroglyphs). In one corner, a double wall had been set up, behind which the idols were hidden. A narrow entrance in the form of a window led to it, and this is how the priest entered to carry out the sacrifices». A little further, the text continues: «The Tabennesian entered, and when he saw the profusion of idols and perceived the altar covered in blood, he exclaimed: «there is only one God», meaning that he errors of polytheism must be eradicated. He first handed us the idol of Kronos, entirely filled with blood, then all the other idols of demons, then a varied collection of other idols of all kinds, especially dogs, cats, apes, crocodiles and reptiles, because in former times the Egyptians also venerated animals.»
We ardently wish that the divers in Aboukir Bay may discover all the relics which have not yet been removed. An immense amount of work has to be done, but the discoveries in Alexandria’s East Harbour made by Franck Goddio’s team leave no room for doubt about the successful conclusion of the campaigns, current and future, to be pursued in Aboukir Bay.
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Pictures by Christoph Gerigk
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