Post by account_disabled on Feb 22, 2024 0:22:32 GMT -6
While exploring a channel off Egypt's Mediterranean coast, underwater archaeologists discovered a sunken temple and a sanctuary filled with ancient treasures linked to the god Amun and the goddess Aphrodite, respectively. The temple, which partially collapsed "during a cataclysmic event" in the mid-2nd century was originally built for the god Amun; It was so important that the pharaohs went to the temple "to receive from the supreme god of the ancient Egyptian pantheon the titles of his power as universal kings," according to a statement from the European Institute of Underwater Archeology (IEASM). The now abandoned building was part of the ancient port city of Thonis-Heracleion in Aboukir Bay also called . The ancient city, now underwater and about miles (7 kilometers) off the present-day coast of Egypt, was destroyed when a large earthquake and tidal waves caused the land to liquefy and sink into the Nile delta.
While exploring the temple, archaeologists unearthed a number of "treasures and secrets," including ritual instruments made of silver, gold jewelry, and alabaster containers once used to hold Pakistan Phone Number perfumes or greasy ointments known as ointments. Related: Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh and Sphinx Statues Unearthed at Sun Temple Also at the site, divers found underground structures supported by "well-preserved wooden posts and beams" dating back to the 5th century BC, they wrote in the statement. “It is very moving to discover such delicate objects that survived intact despite the violence and magnitude of the cataclysm,” Franck Goddio , the president of IEASM and the French underwater archaeologist who led the excavations, said in the statement.
The east of the temple, archaeologists found a Greek sanctuary dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. It also contained numerous artifacts, including imported ceramic and bronze objects. "This illustrates that the Greeks who were allowed to trade and settle in the city during the time of the pharaohs of the Saïte dynasty [between 688 BC and 525 BC] had their shrines to their own gods," the archaeologists wrote in the statement. . The sanctuary also contained a cache of Greek weapons, which could indicate that Greek mercenaries were in the region at some point "defending access to the Kingdom" at the mouth of the westernmost branch of the Nile, or Canopic, the researchers said in the statement.
While exploring the temple, archaeologists unearthed a number of "treasures and secrets," including ritual instruments made of silver, gold jewelry, and alabaster containers once used to hold Pakistan Phone Number perfumes or greasy ointments known as ointments. Related: Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh and Sphinx Statues Unearthed at Sun Temple Also at the site, divers found underground structures supported by "well-preserved wooden posts and beams" dating back to the 5th century BC, they wrote in the statement. “It is very moving to discover such delicate objects that survived intact despite the violence and magnitude of the cataclysm,” Franck Goddio , the president of IEASM and the French underwater archaeologist who led the excavations, said in the statement.
The east of the temple, archaeologists found a Greek sanctuary dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. It also contained numerous artifacts, including imported ceramic and bronze objects. "This illustrates that the Greeks who were allowed to trade and settle in the city during the time of the pharaohs of the Saïte dynasty [between 688 BC and 525 BC] had their shrines to their own gods," the archaeologists wrote in the statement. . The sanctuary also contained a cache of Greek weapons, which could indicate that Greek mercenaries were in the region at some point "defending access to the Kingdom" at the mouth of the westernmost branch of the Nile, or Canopic, the researchers said in the statement.