- The recent discovery of two long-lost cities off the
coast of Egypt has been hailed as one of the most exciting finds in the
history of marine archaeology.
-
- But the location of the sunken cities of Menouthis and
Herakleion might have remained a mystery if not for a unique collaboration
among scientists, archaeologists and underwater explorers.
-
- ``These ancient cities disappeared more than 1,500 years
ago,`` says geophysicist Amos Nur, the Wayne Loel Professor of Earth Sciences.
-
- ``Offshore geophysical surveys led to their discovery,
and earthquakes may have been responsible for their demise,`` he adds.
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- Nur will moderate a special session about the Menouthis/Herakleion
discoveries on Monday, Dec. 18, at 8:30 a.m. at the fall meeting of the
American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
-
- Among the researchers scheduled to attend the half-day
session is Franck Goddio, the French marine archaeologist who last June
announced the discovery of the submerged cities in the Bay of Aboukir about
15 miles (25 kilometers) east of Alexandria, Egypt.
-
- Goddio and his divers made headlines when they unearthed
from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea giant marble statues and fractured
columns - some dating back to the time of the pharaohs.
-
- ``In the ancient world, a major center of various religions
and cults existed here,`` says Goddio, director of the European Institute
of Submarine Archaeology in Paris.
-
- ``Numerous sources of ancient literature verify the existence
of the once famous region,`` he adds, noting that some authors described
Herakleion and its sister city, Menouthis, as opulent and decadent.
-
- ``These cities were not only renowned for their riches
and lifestyle, but also for their many temples dedicated to the gods Serapis,
Isis and Anubis,`` says Goddio.
-
- ``Among others, the Greek historian Herodotus described
a temple of Hercules in Herakleion, which he visited during the journey
through Egypt he began in 450 B.C.,`` he adds.
-
- The search for the missing cities began in 1996 - a challenging
task, recalls Goddio, because it required surveying a 100-square-mile area
of the Mediterranean.
-
- ``We recognized that the work would be only successfully
achieved if a team gathered from diverse disciplines could be formed,``
Goddio says, so he and the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities assembled
specialists in geophysics, archaeology, history and marine diving to find
evidence of the vanished metropolises.
-
- To map the sea floor, geophysicists used a catamaran
specially equipped with echosounders, side-scan sonar and nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR) magnetometers towed in parallel.
-
- ``The scientists only had one day left aboard the ship
when they finally discovered Herakleion submerged in silt less than 24
feet [8 meters] below the sea surface,`` according to Nur.
-
- What caused these great cities to collapse and sink?
-
- A likely answer is earthquakes.
-
- ``In Alexandria itself,`` writes Nur, ``both historical
records and archaeological evidence of collapse have shown that the city
was devastated both onshore and offshore by an earthquake in the mid- to
late-eighth century A.D., and by one or two earlier earthquakes sometime
during the period 200 to 600 A.D.``
-
- He points to rows of columns that all fell in the same
direction - strong evidence that a devastating earthquake struck the Alexandria
region.
-
- The sinking of the cities is more difficult to explain,
Nur concedes, but he says land may have subsided as a result of earthquake-induced
liquefaction of the sea floor, or by tsunamis - giant walls of water that
sometimes sweep across the shoreline in the aftermath of a marine earthquake.
-
- The Smithsonian Institution`s Daniel J. Stanley, a specialist
on the geology of the Nile River Delta, also will address the Dec. 18 AGU
session. He points out that Herakleion - originally a shipping port at
the mouth of the Nile - may have been destroyed and flooded after a branch
of the river abruptly shifted course during the first millennium.
-
- Italian historian Emanuela Guideboni will provide evidence
from Arabic, Latin and Byzantine sources documenting 14 centuries of earthquakes
in the Alexandria region from 320 to 1303 B.C.
-
- However, Jean Yoyette of the College de France in Paris
will argue against the earthquake theory, noting that some ancient texts
say nothing about major tectonic activity having occurred in the region
1,500 years ago.
-
- ``Because the historical and archaeological information
in this region is so sparse and incomplete,`` says Nur, ``it is not possible
as yet to identify the earthquake faults that devastated Alexandria and
Aboukir.``
-
- However, he will discuss three likely locations of the
fault system when he addresses the AGU.
-
- ``The case of Alexandria and Aboukir highlight the emerging
importance of archaeological information in general in helping to predict
earthquakes,`` Nur adds, noting that other densely populated coastal regions
around the world face similar earthquake hazards today.
-
-
- Note: This story has been adapted from a news release
issued by Stanford University for journalists and other members of the
public. If you wish to quote from any part of this story, please credit
Stanford University as the original source. You may also wish to include
the following link in any citation: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/12/001214082602.htm
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