The incredible city of Heracleion has been recognized as a legend for centuries. It was visited by lots of ancient historians like Herodotus & Diodorus from the 5th century BC in addition to Paris & Helen of Troy. The city of Heracleion was lost for around 1200 years until it was discovered in 2000 by the French archeologist Frank Goddio and the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology. It is believed that the lost city of Heracleion was founded in the 12th century BC and it was known as "Thonis". It disappeared beneath the earth's surface 1200 years ago because of the rise & fall of the sea levels and also for the number of earthquakes that have changed the area. There are nowadays lots of treasures and mysteries that are uncovered just like the giant statues, the Egyptian & Greek stones, gold coins, ships, and bronze statues that were found a few kilometers from the coast of Alexandria. The city of Heracleion was named after the ancient Greek hero, Heracles, and the city is mainly referred to as "Thonis Heracleion". It was originally built to honor the god Amun who was the Egyptian deity of the air and the sun during the New Kingdom from 1570 till 1069 BC. The amazing walls that were discovered in that lost city have narrated so much interesting information & stories as revealed that the city contained different districts that were separated by waterways and archeologists have dubbed "The Grand Canal" that is a massive temple located on a massive waterway and that Grand Canal connected the port to a huge natural lake. Lots of unbelievable maritime artifacts and shipwrecks have been discovered within those ports and canals. There are small artifacts that managed to survive during all of those past years despite the sinking of the entire city including some statuettes & amulets that depict the Egyptian and the Greek deities in addition to various buildings, shrines, and carved wooded naos. Archeologists managed also to discover some gorgeous intricate ceramics just like a glazed realistic cobra. Based on the artifacts that were discovered in that city, modern scholars like Marguerite Toscana & Jean-Daniel managed to determine that the city was established around 2700 years ago and sank beneath the sea about 1500 years ago. Surprisingly, the city sank in pieces and some sections sank faster than the others and that was never far above sea level.
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