The Sunken City of Heracleion
A great Egyptian port known only from ancient texts was found under the sea off Alexandria.
What was reported
Ancient writers, including Herodotus, mentioned Thonis and Heracleion, a port at the mouth of the Nile where ships entered Egypt. Over time it vanished from the map, and some thought it might be legend.
In 2000 the French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio and his team found its remains several kilometres off the coast in Abu Qir Bay, under about 10 metres of water: colossal statues of a king, a queen and the god Hapi, temple ruins, dozens of shipwrecks and hundreds of anchors.
Explanations offered
Thonis and Heracleion turned out to be one city, with an Egyptian and a Greek name. It sank gradually, probably through earthquakes, rising water and the collapse of waterlogged clay ground, and was largely gone by the 8th century AD. Excavation continues.
- When
- Rediscovered in 2000
- Where
- Abu Qir Bay, near Alexandria, Egypt
- Witnesses
- The underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio and his team
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.