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In an article written by ABC News back in June of 2001, they make mention of an ancient Egyptian city that was discovered 6.5 km off of modern Egypt’s coastline which revealed fascinating relics of Heracleion, also known as Thonis. Lets review…
The city’s ruins are located in Abu Qir Bay, originally existing near Alexandria, 2.5 km off the coast and only 10 metres underwater. According to the classical tale of Heracleion, in the fading days of the pharaohs, the city of Heracleion was the gateway to Egypt. In the 4th century BC, this was an opulent and prosperous place adorned with statues and sphinxes. It was a city of religious significance and home to the temple of Amun. It was engulfed by the sea around 1,500 years ago.
Using magnetic wave technology, the divers found the basin of what used to be the city’s harbor and electronically surveyed and charted it, finding palaces and temples. Next to the harbor, they found 10 antique shipwrecks.
A coliseum, houses, temples and several other artifacts lay amazingly intact at the bottom of the sea, the archaeologists said. They said they found the statues on the site of what used to be the Great Temple of Herakleion.
The cities had been known only through ancient writings, such as travelogues and comedies, until Goddio’s team announced its discovery about a year ago. They say they discovered the ruins in 1996. The writings recounted the city’s splendor and decadence, and also referred to a temple dedicated to Heracles — or, in Latin, Hercules — the legendary son of the supreme god Zeus, from whose name the city appears to have taken its name.
The writings put the founding of the city more than 2,300 years ago, before ancient Alexandria was founded in 331 B.C.
What could have caused this sacred city to plunge into the sea? Could this be another example of an antediluvian city wiped out by an ancient cataclysm?
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