The seabed is a real museum in which under the water the history of long-gone civilizations is kept. See priceless artifacts are not given to everyone. Among such lucky ones was Frank Goddio – “French Indiana Jones” who discovered underwater Mysterious ancient city of Heracles. 
Photos from open sources For centuries, this city, like Atlantis, was considered a legend. Information about him was preserved only in the writings of ancient Greek historians. In their chronicles they described in detail the huge temple that was built on the place where Hercules first set foot on the land of Egypt. And it stood religious building in the city of Heracles. According to one version, the city located at the mouth of the Nile, near Alexandria, and was founded by Alexander the Great himself in 331 BC. He was considered Egypt’s maritime gateway, the center of Mediterranean commerce and the patrimony of the Ptolemaic dynasty. In Homer’s works one can also find information that Heracles was visited by Elena Troyanskaya and Paris. It was here that the couple in love escaped, fleeing from anger the husband of the beauty – the king of Sparta Menelaus. They say that even the fatal the woman Cleopatra VII was crowned in Heracles. 
Photos from open sources Fun without borders This city famous for all kinds of entertainment and affordable by women. No wonder the Alexandrian nobility chose Heracles the place recreation and entertainment. Ancient Greek historian and geographer Strabo He described the life of the townspeople of Heracles as idle and immoral. By the way prostitution was commonplace in those days. With the whitewashed faces and soot-let-down corrupt women, completely without hiding, they led their ancient craft. And images of love orgies were almost the main theme of art of that time. Moreover frank images of intercourse were not considered pornography at all, and sexual paintings adorned all public places. 
Photos from open sources Moreover, pornographic paintings content became the object of worship and admiration. Artists especially appreciated for the ability to convey to buyers such masterpieces the whole their sexual heat. The presence of such paintings emphasized the high social status and wealth of their owner. But the marital loyalty was the exception rather than the rule. May have flourished would this ancient Las Vegas continue if one fine moment he did not go under water as a result of a global cataclysm. what did it happen more than a thousand years ago? Maybe this area survived terrible flood, and under the weight of the waves the marshy lands at the mouth Nile gone under water along with everything that was on them? 
Photo from open sources. Or else the blame is strong an earthquake, causing a huge area to go underground and then was flooded by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea? Or maybe on the city, as in Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord sent a curse? On this question historians and are trying to find the answer. And the waves closed There are different versions of the death of the city. One by one, he was obliterated earthquake of destructive power, like what occurred in 365 AD on the island of Crete. His strength by The current classification is about 8.5 points. As a result earthquake sea level rose several meters. Something this happened about 7 thousand years ago and off the coast of Norway, when a series of underwater earthquakes caused a terrible cataclysm: thousands of square kilometers of the continental shelf turned into sea bottom. 
Photos from open sources In addition, as it turned out, the city was built on a large layer of clay – a material that is very convenient for construction. During tremors when Heracleon became giant waves fall, clay is saturated with water, and the city fell through it into the abyss. The clay itself has eroded over the centuries, and the island on which the city stood was gone. Maybe it was tsunami that has repeatedly destroyed many areas of the Mediterranean coasts, in particular Central and Southern Greece, Northern Libya, Egypt, Cyprus and Sicily. 
Photos from open sources But there is an opinion that Heracles was destroyed by the Creator himself, who is tired of looking at the blossoming there magnificent color debauchery and drunkenness. As a warning to people, he sent to the city is a flood, which dared from the face of the earth the sinful center of civilization. Archaeological finds suggest that a tragedy has occurred suddenly. And people in a hurry left their homes, abandoning everything material values. Museum in the abyss The sunken city was discovered in 2000 by a team of researchers led by French Egyptologist and a staff member of the European Institute underwater archeology by Frank Goddio. To this scientist with an adventurous the vein has already managed to make many interesting discoveries and finds in the port of Alexandria. Therefore, when he proposed to the Egyptian authorities to begin the search for a mythical city, they gave their consent. Work on Hercules search was carried out in extreme conditions. Researchers made up using electronic and computer technology the most detailed a map of the bottom located at a depth of b to 12 meters from surface. If you consider that the visibility in the search area due to the very a large amount of sludge was not more than twenty centimeters, it can be said that scientists worked almost by touch. They are they raked mud and silt over an area of about a hundred meters with filter suction pumps to any valuable the find did not slip into this “unit” and did not break. If nothing didn’t find, then scuba divers went upstairs to get next job. 
Photos from open sources And once scuba divers came across to an ancient wall of 150 meters long. And then they began to appear and first valuable items: a bronze mirror, spoons, even women’s decorations … It became clear that in the depths of the bay over a large area (about 80 hectares) is a large city that went under water many centuries ago. That the ruins belong precisely to Heracles, it became clear on several objects. Among them is a temple dedicated to Egyptian god Amon and his son Khons (the last in ancient Greek mythology corresponds to Hercules), as well as a stela with the inscription. Objects discovered during excavations and raised to surface indicate how great the city reached in heyday. In total, many gold were found. coins and jewelry, several statues of gods, sarcophagi, ritual objects and ceramics, as well as dozens sunken ships. Most coins and pottery date back to the VI-IV centuries BC. e. – probably in the place of the future the city housed a more ancient settlement. Many objects preserved very well, as they were covered with a layer of sand. 
Photos from open sources Scuba divers found very large pink granite statues lying under water as if knocked down from pedestals of unknown power. Among the statues were found and image of Cleopatra, made in the Greek-Egyptian style. This the statue of the queen was once in the city’s cathedral of Amun-Gereb. Only after the statue of the queen lay in the dark silt about two thousand years, it again saw the light: the statue was raised from the bottom bay to the surface. A ten-meter meter was also found here. statue of Hapi – the god of fertility and floods of the Nile. She lay at the bottom face down, apparently inverted by the tide … All these creations ancient sculptors are perfectly preserved. Also on the territory of the temple were found inscriptions carved on stone, containing detailed information about the life of the city and contacts with others countries. The underwater landscape of the city recreates the picture of how Heracles looked in the era of its highest development. About it can also be judged by the remains of a grand temple dedicated to Supreme God Amon Gereba. Most amazing in this find is the perfect condition in which the found items whose age exceeds 1200 years. Natural defense in the form of silt and sand allowed most artifacts to reach of our days in almost pristine form. According to Frank Goddio, an infinite number continues to hide in these waters artifacts and an important part of history, the study of which will take another at least 200 years old. Irina Erofeeva
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