Ancient city discovered submerged under the sea in Egypt.

On July 19th, a team of Egyptian and French divers from the European Institute of Ocean Archaeology discovered the remains of an ancient warship belonging to the city of Thonis-Heracleion – one of the largest seaports of ancient Egypt in the Mediterranean.

The city controlled the western gateway of the Nile River and once flourished before being conquered and ruled by Alexander the Great in 331 BC.

Destroyed by earthquakes and submerged by tsunamis, traces of Thônis-Heracleion were first discovered in 2001 in Abu Qir Bay near Alexandria – Egypt's second-largest city.

The recently discovered vessel is believed to have sunk while anchored near the sacred Temple of Amun during a catastrophe in the 2nd century BC. Preliminary observations indicate the vessel is 25 meters long, flat-bottomed, and still retains its oars and mast. The ship exhibits a distinct style of ancient Egyptian architecture.

In another area of ​​the city, the expedition team also discovered an ancient Greek cemetery dating back 2400 years. This suggests that Greek merchants once lived there alongside Egyptians under the rule of the Pharaohs. They built sanctuaries near the Temple of Amun. These sanctuaries were also destroyed and mixed with the remains of the Egyptians, lying peacefully at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.

Thonis-Heracleion was built around the eighth century BC. Ancient authors such as the Greek historian Herodotus from the fifth century BC wrote about Thonis-Heracleion, a great temple city dedicated to Amun, the Egyptian god of the sun and air.

This is the city where Paris and Helen took refuge before the Trojan War, and the city where the hero Hercules once resided.

Some historians also believe that Cleopatra III was buried here with pharaohial rites in a temple in this city.

Bo Di