Swallowed by the Mediterranean Sea more than 1,200 years ago, the ancient city of Heracleion has been found and now it is slowly giving up its
many treasures and amazingly well-preserved artefacts.
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| Heracleion was a vibrant city from 6th to the 4th century BCE |
Mentioned in writings by ancient Greek historians, Heracleion was a vibrant city from 6th to the 4th century BCE, but it was lost and became a place of myth and legend.
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| Ptolemaic coins from the submerged Heracleion |
Heracleion was, however, famous enough at one time, to be mentioned by Herodotus, the great historian of the 5th-century BCE. Since being rediscovered, Heracleion is being revealed as a place possessing buildings and art of great beauty. Such as majestic 16-foot stone sculptures and
limestone sarcophagi containing the
remains of mummified animals. And there are gold coins and huge stone tablets displaying ancient Greek and Egyptian scripts.
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| Heracleion was a vibrant city from 6th to the 4th century BCE |
It is not known exactly why this place slid into the sea, but perhaps, the grand and heavy buildings were a factor, or perhaps, the
earthquakes and floods were responsible. However, now, that archaeologists have uncovered Heracleion along with 64 ships and 700 anchors; religious artefacts featuring gods like Osiris and Horus and the temple where
Cleopatra was inaugurated as Queen of the Nile, we have a chance to see and wonder at the magnificence of the ancient Greek world and may be, we may even learn something very exciting about the past.
