Ancient History

The site of Thonis-Herclion was discovered in 1933 by a British Air Force pilot. Artefacts were found underwater in 1996, proving the existence of the ports. Most artefacts were in bad condition and had to be preserved using various methods. Scientific advances such as NMR and underwater vacuum helped in reconstruction. Ownership and custodianship of the site are not currently issues. Preservation of the site is significant for historians in understanding ancient Egyptian culture, including their food, classism, religion, and government. The discovery of marble inscriptions and gold jewelry provides direct evidence of their culture. How was the site discovered? The site was initially discovered by a British Air Force pilot in 1933 as they were flying over the area of Thonis-Herclion. Because the new pilot saw something at the bottom of the sea, the Air Force pilot contacted the Prince of Egypt and told him about the sightings and an investigation was looked into but nothing was found as the artefacts were underwater. It wasn't until 1996, 63 years later, that Frank Goodo and his team decided to look underwater but couldn't find anything at first. After some thinking, they looked underneath the sand at Alexandria to find artefacts there. They found some but it wasn't until they moved to Thonis-Herclion that they found lots of artefacts. This proved that the ports of Thonis-Herclion existed as it was heavily theorised by a lot of professionals. What was found, in what condition and how was the excavation conducted? Most artefacts that were found are quite in bad condition as the water and salt has started corroding them away. The artefacts would break under pressure and the sun would dissolve the small artefacts they brought up and put in 50% salt water and 50% fresh water distillation tank to maintain the artefacts and make sure they don't get damaged by outside factors. For those big statues or artefacts that they want to come up with, they either use a floating balloon or if it's massive, they use an underwater elevator whilst having the distillation tank to preserve them. Metal objects that are found are bathed in chemical or electrochemical treatments to preserve them. In relation to your choice of site, indicate which scientific advances have helped to reconstruct the past and assist in interpreting the lives of people of that site. Finding the site was difficult at first so they used Nuclear Magnetic Renaissance, NMR, to see under the sand where the artefacts could once be found and an underwater vacuum provided by the French Atomic Energy Commission was used to gather the sand so they could see the condition of the artefacts before moving them as they would have been under water and untouched for thousands of years. Most of the bigger artefacts were left on site to preserve them as the risk was too high right now to extract them. The scientists that are involved are archaeologists, shipwreck specialists, underwater archaeologists, managers, ceramicists, Egyptologists, electronic engineers, geophysicists, conservators, underwater graphists, archaeological illustrators, paleontologists, these people are just a part of the extraction team. There will be more people once it's out of the water at the museum. For example, some of the people that help are dietists and they help analyse what the people of ancient Egypt ate. All of these people helped achieve to discover what ancient civilisations were like. A ceramicist is a person who studies pottery and sees how old it is and where it's originated from. Outline any issues of ownership and custodianship in your site. There have been no stated issues with ownership or custodians as of this moment, although a French underwater archaeologist company is discovering the artefacts and the site falls under UNESCO. The leader of the French Institute of Archaeology stated that, as our missions are conducted in close cooperation with the heritage authorities of the country in which we work, this also applies to the teams of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, SCA. Discuss the significance of the preservation of your ancient site to historians and understanding of its culture. It is vital that Thonis-Hercleion is preserved as not only does it give us an insight into how it was made, but it also gives us an insight into one of the biggest ports in the world functioned and eventually led to its demise. It also gives us an idea of how they develop as a country and imports to other countries. Preservation and study will tell us how the world as a whole functioned. Food baskets were found at the bottom of Thonis-Hercleion. Dietitians can research what kind of food they ate and see if they were locally grown or imported from elsewhere. It can also be discovered how classism worked in ancient Egypt and if royalty or wealthy people ate differently from the poor. The discovery of statues of their gods will lead us closer to seeing what they worshipped and why they did. We can also see why they did this and if there was any reason for their evidence behind it. Marble inscriptions were found underwater at Thonis-Hercleion which is one of the important finds of everything there. The physical writing of the people of the times give us direct evidence of what their culture was like. No one is fully able to understand their writing but these new finds will definitely come a long way in helping understanding ancient Egyptian writing, leading to clear messages in what their government hierarchy believes and overall day to day activities. Gold jewellery has a significant insight into how ancient Egypt operated with their hierarchy and who was deemed rich and poor. They show how people's decoration make them wealthy and show their importance and social status in their community. All of these artefacts show how important this site is in discovering ancient Egypt's culture. It proves significance even to this day and how it would impact us as a society more than two thousand years later.