Geoarchaeology of Portus Mareoticus Ancient Alexandrias lake harbour (original) (raw)
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Geoarchaeology of Portus Mareoticus: Ancient Alexandria's lake harbour (Nile Delta, Egypt)
Ancient Alexandria possessed not only an important maritime front but also a long lake waterfront on its southern side. This dual waterfront was praised by the ancient geographer Strabo in the first century BCE, because its geomorphological configuration opened Alexandria to Mediterranean trade, and also the Nile delta and Egypt. While the city's maritime palaeogeography has been widely described and studied, Alexandria's lacustrine waterfront has largely been neglected and little is known about its palaeo-geography and archaeology. Here we report the chronostratigraphy of the southern edge of the modern city. Bio-sedimentological analyses of sediment archives allow us to reconstruct the evolution of the depositional environments and palaeogeographies for parts of ancient Alexandria's lacustrine waterfront. The chronological framework spans the last 2000 years. By marrying our data with ancient maps and historical sources, we propose a location for Portus Mareoticus. The lake's geomorphology suggests the presence of three ancient jetties, perpendicular to the shoreline and several hundreds meters long. The occupation of the investigated area began at the end of the first century BCE, linked to Roman domination and probably ended during late Roman times. The waterfront was then disconnected from the city during the 9th century CE, due to the desiccation of Maryut Lake, concomitant with the drying-up of the Canopic branch. Alexandria canal subsequently became the sole waterway linking the city to the Nile. The most western part of the canal, which extended freshwater supply and fluvial navigation down to the western marine harbour of Alexandria, was completed in the 16th century, probably in relation to the development of the marine harbours at the beginning of the Ottoman period. Our research sheds new light on the topography of ancient Alexandria.
Geomorphological and archaeological features of Alexandria depicting subsidence of the coastal zone
ENALIA, 2018
The littoral region of Alexandria, east of Silsileh (the eastern promontory of the Eastern Harbor) to Montazah promontory was investigated combining archaeological and geomorphological evidence in order to better understand the subsidence of the coastal zone. The coastal zone is rich in archaeological and geomorphological features able to provide insights into the evolution of the coastline and the relative sea level changes. Our study has revealed a continuous subsidence of the coastal zone, owed to various contributing processes, while further research is required to decipher the coastal evolution of this littoral.
2021
Marine geophysical surveys were carried out at the underwater site in the south-western sector of the Eastern Harbor of Alexandria, opposite to the Egyptian Sea Scout Club. Survey works aimed to detect and study the surface and subsurface geomorphological changes caused by historic sea-level rise and natural hazards, by integrating the results of high-resolution geophysical mapping for the seafloor textures and the subsurface layers with previously published core data and sea-level records, the survey works employed echo-sounder, side scan sonar, and sub-bottom profiler. Acoustic data were ground-truthed using an ROV camera and sediment grab sampler. Results of bathymetric mapping and sonar imaging outlined two breakwaters and quay corresponding to a submerged ancient port; also, sediment types were classified according to variation in the magnitude of the backscattered intensities. Interpretation of sub-bottom profiles illustrated the depositional sequence of the topmost sedimentar...
This article summarizes the results of a survey conducted in the area of the ancient harbour of Alexandria Troas. It presents an outline reconstruction of the harbour and explains its significance for our understanding of the region. The harbour is located at the point where two important sea-routes met and where ships waited for favourable winds to travel through the Dardanelles. It was built in the reign of Augustus and consisted of an outer basin protected by two breakwaters and an inner basin. The area was occupied until the beginning of the 7th century. T he following article summarizes the results of a survey in the harbour of Alexandria Troas (for a fuller account see . Introductory remarks about the aims and methodology of the survey, and the history and the natural and geographical setting of Alexandria Troas, are followed by an examination and interpretation of the archaeological remains and the pottery. This leads to a reconstruction of the ancient harbour and its chronology.
EGYPT AND THE LEVANT, 2018
Abstract: During the 19th century, remains of an ancient harbour were found underwater at a depth of 5 to 6 meters in the eastern port of Alexandria. A research program was undertaken to determine when the harbour of Alexandria submerged underwater. Data were collected through underwater surveys by scuba diving and by campaigns of corings on land. Geomorphological (i.e. notches and pebble beaches), archaeological (harbour structures), and biological (i.e. marine macrofauna, bioconstructions, and biodepositions) sea level indicators were correlated to understand changes in relative sea level during the last 6 millennia. For each proxy, the altitudinal (vertical) and chronological ranges of imprecision were discussed. The results indicate that the rate of the relative sea level rise is ~80 mm per century between the middle of the 6th millennium and the 5th‒6th c. AD.An abrupt relative sea level rise (3.5 m + 1.5 m) occurred during the mid 8th c. to the end of 9th c. AD. In the 8th c. AD, a similar phenomenon was observed for Heracleion (25 km east of Alexandria). Thus, a wide movement of sinking affected in a synchronous manner the western coastal margin of the Nile delta. Since this 8th- 9th c. AD event, the subsidence has increased around 2 m. The role of abrupt sinking events and subsidence remain determining in the deltaic context to anticipate future coastal adaptations and the risk of submersion.
Ports, Harbours and Anchorages in the Ancient Mediterranean: New Discoveries and New Approaches
2017
The aim of this joint paper is to present and assess the results of the Salamis Harbour Project, initiated in 2016 and supported with a substantial grant from the Honor Frost Foundation. This is a three-year (2016-2018) project of systematic underwater survey and documentation by the Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology in collaboration with the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, with the involvement of the Laboratory of Marine Geology and Physical Oceanography of the University of Patras under Prof. G. Papatheodorou, and having, for the first time, as main focus the Bay of Ambelaki and adjacent areas on the eastern coast of the island of Salamis in the Saronic Gulf (Greece), opposite Piraeus. This historic bay, with many submerged ancient installations in very polluted waters, is the commercial and military harbour of the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman town of Salamis (forming an unofficial Athenian deme), certainly one of the most important harbours, next to those of Piraeus, of the city-state of Athens in the Classical period, and the plausible point of assembly of the united Greek fleet on the eve of the naval battle of 480 BC; and also found in close proximity with some famous monuments to the great sea-battle, on the long promontory of Kynosoura and on the islet of Psyttaleia (that is, the tumulus/polyandreion and the trophies). This new underwater reconnaissance, in a seascape loaded with both traditional and modern harbour, shipbuilding and other industrial activities, was carried out in successive stages, in November-December 2016. Apart from traditional methods in underwater archaeological survey, current technologies in mapping, surveying, geophysical prospection and aerial photographic documentation and other fields were employed in collaboration with the team from the University of Patras. One of the main results of the 2016 campaign (to be supplemented with new data from the 2017 survey) has been the production of a detailed topographical plan of the survey-area showing all submerged antiquities (breakwaters, piers/moles, fortification works, buildings and other constructions) visible in the innermost part of the Bay of Ambelaki, in very shallow waters (with an ever-changing water-table). These remains have been identified on the north, west and south sides of the inner harbour of the ancient town of Salamis and surveyed with the use of aerial photography, photogrammetric documentation and architectural drawing. Of major interest is an 'enclosed' (fortified) area (of special function), with various remains, on the northwestern side of the inner bay. It is limited, on the south, by an impressive long wall (or jetty), 160m long by ca. 4m wide, ending in a strong well-built circular tower, with a diameter of ca. 7m, closely comparable to defensive towers in well-known fortified harbour-sites; and, on the east, by a modern mole (on ancient foundation?), 47m long, built with blocks originating from ancient structures. Immediately west of the latter, part of a unit of port architecture (or a segment of the