The European Institute of Underwater Archeology (IEASM) said it has discovered “treasures and secrets” at the site of a sunken temple in Egypt.
An underwater archeology team led by French marine archaeologist Franck Goddio has discovered new treasures. According to news channel CNN, they visited the site of a very ancient temple dedicated to the god Amon in the ancient Egyptian port city of Thonis-Herakleion in the Bay of Aboukir.
Treasures and wonders
The team examined the canal, where huge stone blocks were discovered “during a cataclysmic event from the mid-2nd century B.C.E. The institute announced that it had collapsed.
They found valuable items that make up the temple’s treasure. Among the wonders: silver ritual instruments, gold jewelry, and fragile alabaster containers for perfumes or ointments. According to the IEASM, these objects testify to the wealth of this sanctuary and the piety of the port city’s former inhabitants.
“It is extremely moving to discover such delicate objects that have survived intact despite the violence and scale of the disaster,” said Franck Goddio, president of the IEASM and leader of the excavations.
The discoveries were made possible by new geophysical prospecting technologies that are able to detect cavities and objects beneath meter-thick layers of clay.
the presence of Greek objects
To the east of the Temple of Amun was a Greek shrine dedicated to Aphrodite, as well as bronze and ceramic objects.
“This shows that the Greeks, who were allowed to trade and settle in the city during the time of the Pharaohs of the Saiten Dynasty (664-525 BC), had their shrines to their own gods,” said the institute.
The rest of the city lies more than 7 km from the present-day coast of Egypt. The city of Thonis-Herakleion was the largest Egyptian port in the Mediterranean for several centuries before Alexander the Great’s invasion in 331 BC. Alexandria was founded in 500 BC.
The city was discovered by the IEASM in 2000.