Alexandria

Essay by sany_patel February 2006

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Alexandria was a Greco-Roman city at the Western end of the Mediterranean on the Nile Delta, and was the Greatest of all cities named after Alexander the Great.

In AD 335 a series of earthquakes and tidal waves, as well as the continuous slow subsiding of the land caused most of the Ptolemaic city to plunge into the Sea.

In the Early 1980's, the underwater explorer Franck Goddio first began to dive for the lost royal city, using Historical documents as a guide; however it was not until 1992 when Franck Goddio and his Paris-based European Institute for Underwater Archaeology, electronically mapped the Eastern Harbour (using modern archaeological technology such as - satellite mapping, infra-red camera's, radar and magnetometers to penetrate the gloom and measure the difference in materials) that the 'rubble' began to be revealed. This work was the backbone of later missions. It was in 1996 that the true 'treasures' were found.

Goddio discovered the exact location of the ancient royal quarters of Alexandria that had been under the harbour about 1,600 years ago.

The key finds from this first mission were - statues, capitals, blocks of granite, sphinxes, pavements and ceramics. These finds were also some of the key finds of the mission -

The Island of Antirhodos which was the location of one of Cleopatra's palaces, the Peninsula where Mark Antony made his personal retreat (palace) & The Poseidon Sanctuary and the Royal Harbour of Cape Lochias.

In 1996 an outcrop was found in the Western Harbour. (Which remains Goddio's career highlight). The Rock was cleaned and it was found to be a hieroglyph inscription on red granite. (1.) "It was eternal Life" Goddio said. The hieroglyphs dated back to Seti 1.

Stone blocks bearing both Greek and hieroglyphics inscriptions were also found.

A vast Greek...