OLEM EDGE GLOBAL CONCEPT: Lost kingdom of (Egyptian) Cleopatra resurfaces under sea

Scientists believe that the entire city was completely submerged, along with all the artifacts, statues, columns and other beauties of the palace of Cleopatra.

Several of the submerged artifacts remained largely intact. Among the discoveries were the foundations of the palace, shipwrecks, red granite columns, and statues of the goddess Isis and a sphinx.

Also among the massive limestone blocks (toppled in the fourth century) was a huge quartzite block with an engraving of a pharaoh, having inscription that indicates Seti I, father of Ramses II.
In ancient times, the city of Thonis-Heracleion, known (in modern times) as the lost kingdom of Cleopatra – served as a gateway to Egypt. This mysterious, legendary city, has however, been submerged in Egypt's Aboukir Bay, near Alexandria.

Why the city sank remains a mystery, but it was swallowed by the Mediterranean Sea and has since been buried in sand and mud for more than 1,200 years. New amazing underwater discoveries allow archeologists to piece together clues and to create an image of what life was (in the, then, ancient city).

Researchers believe that the city was a central area used as a customs hub where trade (coming from Greece and other places in the Mediterranean) entered Egypt.

"The site has amazing preservation. We are now starting to look at some of the more interesting areas within it to try to understand life there.

"We are getting a rich picture of things like the trade that was going on there and the nature of the maritime economy in the Egyptian late period. There were things that were coming in from Greece and the Phoenicians. It is a major city we are excavating," said Dr. Damian Robinson, director of the Oxford Center for Maritime Archaeology at the University of Oxford, who is working on the site.

The city, Known as Heracleion to the ancient Greeks and Thonis to the ancient Egyptians, was rediscovered in 2000 by French underwater archaeologist Dr. Franck Goddio and a team from the European Institute for Underwater Archeology (IEASM), after a four-year geophysical survey.

Its name was almost razed from the memory of mankind, only preserved in ancient classic texts and rare inscriptions found on land by archaeologists.

According to Dr. Frank Goddio, on his website, “The Greek historian, Herodotus (5th century BC), told of a great temple that was built where the famous hero Herakles first set foot on to Egypt.

“He also reports of Helen's visit to Heracleion with her lover, Paris, before the Trojan War. More than four centuries after Herodotus' visit to Egypt, the geographer Strabo observed that the city of Heracleion, which possessed the temple of Herakles, is located straight to the east of Canopus at the mouth of the Canopic branch of the River Nile.”

Divers also discovered a colossal stone head believed to be of Caesarion, son of Cleopatra and previous lover, Julius Caesar, and two sphinxes, one of them probably representing Cleopatra's father, Ptolemy XII.

Describing the discovery, Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe, a University of Oxford archeologist (taking part in the excavation) said, “The archaeological evidence is simply overwhelming. By lying untouched and protected by sand on the sea floor for centuries they are brilliantly preserved.”

It was reported that, many advanced ancient civilizations ended due to earthquakes, tsunamis or other natural disasters: there were many ancient secrets at the bottom of the oceans and we could learn more about our ancestors with the help of emerging technologies that provide us with an opportunity to explore the depths as never before.