User:AncientTurtle01/Heracleion

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History[edit]

Marble statue of a young Heracles. Heracles was an important figure in Heracleion, with the main central temple of the city being dedicated to him.

Thonis was originally built on some adjoining islands in the Nile Delta. The city was built around the central temple to Hercales, and was intersected by canals with a number of harbors and anchorages. Its wharves, temples, and tower-houses were linked by ferries, bridges, and pontoons. The city was an emporion (trading port) and by the Late Period it was the country's main port for international trade and collection of taxes. It had a sister city, Naucratis, which was another trading port lying 72 km (45 mi) farther up the Nile. Goods were transferred inland via Naucratis, or they were transported via the Western Lake and through a water channel to the nearby town of Canopus for onward distribution.

Greek references and legends[edit]

Thonis-Heracleion is mentioned by many Greek historians of antiquity, including Strabo, Diodorus, and Herodotus. These references to Thonis-Heracleion to are often within the context of a story about legendary Greek figures, such as Heracles and Paris, and put the location of the city to be on the coast and adjacent to the Nile.

Strabo wrote that the in the distant past the city of Thonis, whose name derived from its king, had been located on a strip of land between the Mediterranean Sea and a canal leading towards the city of Schedia.

Diodorus made mention of Thonis in relation to a story of Heracles, claiming that at one point the Nile river had become greatly inundated and flooded the area in which Prometheus was the governor. Due to the speed that its water flowed, the Nile at that time was called the Aëtus, or eagle, until Heracles stopped the flooding and corrected the river's course back to its original position. Diodorus claimed that the myth of Heracles slaying the eagle which ate the liver of Prometheus had its origins in this event, and that the city of Thonis stood where the Nile now emptied into the Mediterranean.

Herodotus said that Paris and Helen of Troy, fleeing from Menelaus, landed in a region of the Nile delta known as the Canopic mouth. Some of Paris' servants then fled to a nearby temple of Hercales that was built along the coast, and told the temple priests and Thonis, the watchman at the entrance to the Nile, of Paris' taking of Helen from Menelaus. Thonis then captured Paris' and his ships, and brought Paris and Helen to Memphis to be judged by Proteus of Egypt. Alternatively it was believed that Menelaus and Helen had stayed there, accommodated by the noble Egyptian Thon and his wife Polydamna. The second century BC Greek poet Nicander wrote that Menelaus's helmsman, Canopus, was bitten by a viper on the sands of Thonis.

Egyptian references[edit]

The stela of Ptolemy VIII from the temple of Heracleion

Until very recently the site had been known only from a few literary and epigraphic sources, one of which interestingly mentions the site as an emporion, just like Naukratis. — British Museum, 2013

One of the twin steles of the Decree of Nectanebo I.

Heracleion is referred to the in the twin steles of the Decree of Nectanebo I (the first of which is known as the 'Stele of Naukratis'), which specify that one tenth of the taxes on imports passing through the town of Thonis (Heracleion) were to be given to the ancient sanctuary of Neith of Sais. The city is also mentioned in the Decree of Canopus honoring Pharaoh Ptolemy III, which describes donations, sacrifices and a procession on water.

Discovery and excavation process[edit]

Ptolemaic coins from the submerged Heracleion Before its discovery in 2000, most historians believed that Thonis and Heracleion were two separate cities, both located on what is now the Egyptian mainland. However, a second stele of the Decree of Nectanebo I was found at the temple of Heracleion, with a order from Nectanebo I stating that it be placed in the city of Thonis, proving that Thonis and Heracleion were actually one and the same. The ruins submerged in the sea were located and are excavated by the French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio and his team of the IEASM in collaboration with the Ministry for Antiquities of Egypt after a five-year search. Goddio and his team first researched the historical texts concerning the area and used that information to narrow down the possible location of the site. Then, the team used a combination of several pieces of technology, including non-intrusive cutting-edge technology, like a nuclear magnetic resonance magnetometer, multi-beam bathymetry, sidescan sonar, sub-bottom profiler and satellite positioning systems in order to map the site. These are relatively new technologies that were useful in the complex process of research and excavation. After the site was mapped, the team slowly began excavations. Several devices were used for the underwater excavations. The team used a grid reference system to document the exact positioning of the artifacts. They also created an excavation plan. The team labeled or tagged every artifact and documented its exact position. They used a water dredge to further uncover the artifacts. The team consisted of archaeologists, as well as artists and photographers to document the finds. The team conducted dives at the site in a tightly coordinated schedule for about a month period in order to maximize their time there. They systematically uncovered various portions of the site during their allotted time frame. Goddio's team's policy is to leave the artifacts in place, unless they get permission from the proper authorities that the artifacts may be risen for conservation efforts or to safeguard their preservation. When there was a cause to raise an artifact from the water, the team tagged it, and placed it within a plastic bag and then raised the artifact to the surface in a basket. However, if the artifact was too large, such as the various statues, the team used a crane from on board their ship, the Princess Duda, to carefully raise the artifact. Once on the ship, the artifacts were cleaned and then went through a desalination process in order to protect them from the dry air after a long submersion underwater.

Numerous finds from the site have indicated that the city's period of major activity ran from the sixth to the fourth century BC, with finds of pottery and coins appearing to stop at the end of the second century BC. Goddio's finds have also included incomplete statues of the god Serapis and the queen Arsinoe II who became king.

Maritime archaeologists have begun using 3D technologies more consistently due to the “improvement of a suite of sonar, laser, optical and other sensor-based technologies capable of capturing terrestrial, intertidal, seabed and sub-seabed sediments in 3D and in high resolution”. These technologies allow the archaeologists to scan the sites and create accurate, precise maps and images of the site. This is especially useful because the site is submerged underwater.