The discovery of an approximately 2000 year old wreck of an ancient galley near the Egyptian city of Alexandria is a sensation in three respects: On the one hand, wrecks from this period are very rare. Second, the ship apparently sank in a natural disaster. Thirdly, the find confirms the accuracy of the descriptions of the Greek historian Herodotus, who had described a ship of this type.
The wreck was found near the sunken ancient city of Herakleion-Thonis on the Mediterranean coast on the Nile Delta near today’s Alexandria. The research team at the European Institute for Underwater Archeology led by the Frenchman Franck Goddio speaks of a “phenomenally well-preserved wreck”. The explanations why the Egyptian boat sank sound just as interesting. It probably went down as a result of an earthquake. As a result, blocks from the famous Temple of Amun at Herakleion fell onto the ship lying in a canal in front of the place of worship; Such blocks were found on the wreck.
During the excavations on the seabed, the researchers also found other objects.
(Photo: HANDOUT / VIA REUTERS)
The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities also confirmed the find via Twitter. The wreck is not the first sensational find by the underwater archaeologist Goddio. He has already explored the also sunken royal quarter of the city of Alexandria.
The find should also consolidate the reputation of the ancient historian Herodotus as the father of historiography. Some critics consider the Greeks, who lived in the fifth century BC, to be a kind of Munchausen who wrote. That could change because Herodotus described the construction of such an Egyptian ship. The wreck is apparently the first ancient ship found that was built in the manner depicted by Herodotus. According to the researchers, this proves the accuracy of its descriptions and could cement its reputation as a historian of antiquity.
This golden fragment was also found in the sunken city of Herakleion-Thonis.
(Photo: HANDOUT / REUTERS)
The 2000 year old ship was a kind of galley that was probably used as a war or merchant ship. It had a long rudder at the stern and a mast and could be rowed or sailed. According to the underwater archaeologists, the ship is more than 25 meters long. The hull is covered by silt and is well preserved. The planks were connected with a tenon technique, which gave the ship its specific appearance, as described by Herodotus. According to the British historian Damian Robinson, he “described the boat as having internal ribs”. So far, nobody knew what he really meant by that.
The Greek-Egyptian city of Herakleion-Thonis was the most important Egyptian port until the founding of nearby Alexandria by Alexander the Great. The city is said to have been destroyed as a result of several earthquakes. The earth had sunk because of the quake, the city apparently continued to slide and later sank. Today it is about seven kilometers off the Mediterranean coast near Alexandria in the Bay of Abukir at a depth of about ten meters. The city, built on islands, was considered a religious center because of the Amun temple. Centuries later, the Bay of Abukir was the site of a sea battle: the British Admiral Nelson sank the French Mediterranean fleet there in 1798, with which the aspiring Napoleon landed for his expedition to Egypt.