Dive into Franck Goddio's 2023 Maritime Archaeology Journey
Revealing the depths: New discoveries in the sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion
It has been a great year filled with fascinating scientific endeavors for Maritime Archaeologist Franck Goddio and his team from the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM). Since 1996, the Hilti Foundation has supported him in his mission of advancing our understanding of ancient civilizations and preserving our cultural heritage for future generations.
Photo: Christoph Gerigk, (c) Franck Goddio/Hilti Foundation
In 2023, Franck Goddio and his team have succeeded in discovering amazing new artifacts at Thonis-Heracleion in Egypt. Some of the beautiful and ancient objects found below the sea are now part of one of the world’s largest archaeological collections in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. Furthermore, we also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the cooperation with the University of Oxford.
New discoveries in the sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion
The 2023 IEASM mission to Thonis-Heracleion in Egypt yielded amazing results. The team recovered precious objects belonging to the treasury of the great Temple of Amun-Gereb, where Pharaohs came to receive their titles as universal kings from the supreme god of the ancient Egyptian pantheon. The temple collapsed during a cataclysmic event in the mid-second century BCE and the remains have been lying on the seabed since, hidden under meters of sand and sediment. Among the finds are silver ritual instruments, gold jewelry and fragile alabaster containers for perfumes or unguents. They bear witness to the wealth of this sanctuary and the piety of the port city’s former inhabitants.
East of the Temple of Amun-Gereb, the team also discovered a Greek sanctuary devoted to the goddess Aphrodite, where imported bronze and ceramic objects were unearthed. It illustrates that the Greeks, who were allowed to trade and settle in the city during the time of the Pharaohs of the Saïte dynasty (664 - 525 BCE), had local sanctuaries to their own gods. The presence of Greek mercenaries is also documented by numerous discoveries of Greek weapons. They were defending the access to the kingdom at the mouth of the Canopic Branch of the Nile, the largest and the best navigable one in antiquity.
"It is extremely moving to discover such delicate objects, which survived intact despite the violence and magnitude of the cataclysm," says Franck Goddio, President of IEASM and director of excavations.
Goddio’s finds on display at the new Grand Egyptian Museum
Two colossal statues of a Ptolemaic king and queen, both about 5 meters high, were among the first spectacular discoveries made by the IEASM in the ancient sunken Egyptian city of Thonis-Heracleion. The team recovered them, broken into several fragments, near the great Temple of Amun-Gereb on the Central Island of the city. The statues mark an important milestone in the history of the iconography of the Greco-Macedonian dynasty. They are by far the best preserved of the large Pharaonic-style images that exist of Ptolemaic rulers.
After years of meticulous excavation, restoration and study processes the statues embarked on a journey around the world. They were enthusiastically received by countless visitors in Europe, the USA and Japan - as part of the Egypt’s Sunken Treasures/Cities exhibition tours. The statues have now found a permanent home at the new Grand Egyptian Museum’s Grand Hall. The museum is set to open on the Giza Plateau, near Cairo, in 2024.
We are proud that they form part of one of the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world.
In addition, several artifacts discovered by the IEASM during underwater excavations in Thonis-Heracleion, Canopus and in the ancient Portus Magnus of Alexandria are now exhibited permanently at the Graeco-Roman Museum of Alexandria, which re-opened in 2023 after 18 years of renovation work.
20th anniversary of the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology
The Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology (OCMA) was established in 2003 as a collaborative venture by the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford, the IEASM, under the direction of Franck Goddio and the Hilti Foundation. The aim was to create a center of expertise for maritime archaeology at the university. Since its founding, OCMA has developed into a specialized research center with its teaching and additional work on archaeological topics.
OCMA has collaborated with the IEASM on their research in Egypt. In addition to the fieldwork, post-excavation research, and publications, Oxford academics have also supervised doctoral students studying objects from the various sites. It has provided them with access to amazing collections and given them unforgettable experiences. Furthermore, OCMA and the IEASM jointly promote research through a vigorous program of international conferences that bring together specialists in maritime cultures, as well as outreach events aimed at a more general audience. OCMA’s peer-reviewed monograph series is published in-house and distributed by Oxbow Books.
Maritime Archaeology, the IEASM and the Hilti Foundation
Since 1996, the Hilti Foundation has been supporting underwater excavations in the eastern port of Alexandria and the sunken cities of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus in Aboukir Bay, off the coast of Egypt, under the direction of Franck Goddio and the IEASM in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
The Hilti family’s early engagement in supporting Franck Goddio’s work was the starting point for the Hilti Foundation. This long-term commitment has enabled Goddio to revolutionize maritime archaeology with innovative research and documentation techniques. As a result, he has succeeded in discovering fascinating sites and sunken cities that had been considered lost. The city of Thonis-Heracleion was discovered in the year 2000 and underwater excavations at the site continue today. Franck Goddio estimates that only about 5% of the ancient city has been rediscovered thus far and aims to unveil more with each annual mission he and his team carry out.
IEASM/Maritime Archaeology: Franck Goddio
The IEASM was founded in 1987 as a French nonprofit organization by its president Franck Goddio. Its aim is the location, exploration and excavation of sunken sites, the conservation of recovered artifacts, the creation of international exhibitions as well as the publication of books for scholars and the general public. The IEASM works in close cooperation with the national authorities in whose territorial waters the explorations take place. It calls upon scientists and specialists of different scientific fields to support its research missions, study and to publish the findings.
The sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion
It is believed that Thonis-Heracleion (the Egyptian and Greek names of the city) was founded around the 8th century BCE. It underwent diverse natural catastrophes and, finally, sunk entirely into the depths of the Mediterranean in the 8th century CE. The city knew glorious times as the obligatory port of entry to Egypt for all ships coming from the Greek world. It also had a religious importance because of the Temple of Amun-Gereb. Prior to its discovery seven kilometres off today’s coastline in Aboukir Bay by Franck Goddio and his team in the year 2000, no trace of Thonis-Heracleion had been found. Its name was only preserved in ancient classic texts and rare inscriptions found on land by archaeologists.
Discoveries and milestones
Franck Goddio is one of the leading pioneers of modern maritime archaeology. His unique systems approach to archaeological underwater excavations, with the help of non-intrusive cutting-edge technology, have led to extraordinary findings of unmatched historical value: Alexandria’s ancient Portus Magnus, the sunken cities of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus and an impressive number of historically important ships, among them seven junks from the 11th to the 16th century, two Spanish galleons and two trading vessels of the British East India Company. The site of Thonis-Heracleion, an area twice the size of Pompeii, ranks among the world’s largest underwater archaeological research projects.