Divers find the statue of Hapy in Abukir Bay. ©Franck Goddio
/ Hilti Foundation - Photo: Christoph Gerigk
|
For more than a thousand years, this 18 ft tall statue of
Hapy, Egyptian god of the annual Nile flood, lay broken and forgotten beneath
the waters of Abukir Bay, on the northernmost coast of Egypt.
Now, restored to
his former magnificence, he dominates the entrance of this fascinating
exhibition at the British Museum – a fitting introduction to the story of how two ancient cities were
rediscovered thanks to a dedicated team of underwater archaeologists.
While these sunken cities were known to have existed, their
exact location was a mystery. Records contained three names – Canopus, Thonis
and Heracleion - and it was these for which the director of the European Institute
for Underwater Archaeology, Franck Goddio, was searching during a dive in 1999
when he spotted granite columns protruding from the seabed. Excavations got
under way the following year and the remains of a huge temple dedicated to the Greco-Egyptian
god Serapis were uncovered. Goddio had
found the lost city of Canopus. As the search continued, a further site was
located, four miles off the present-day coast. There, as well as the statue of
Hapy, a stele dating from 380BC (below) was found that clarified the mystery. Thonis and
Heracleion were not different towns - Thonis was the older, Egyptian name for
the city that the Greeks called Heracleion, in honour of Herakles (Hercules).
Raising a stele inscribed with the decree of Saϊs and discovered on the site of Thonis-Heracleion.©Franck Goddio / Hilti Foundation - Photo: Christoph Gerigk |
Thonis-Heracleion had
been founded around 700 BC. It became one
of Egypt’s most important commercial centres for trade with the Mediterranean
world - the remains of 69 ships and 700 anchors have been located - and, with
Canopus, was a major centre for the worship of the Egyptian gods. When
Alexander the Great (left) conquered Egypt in 332 BC, he was careful to continue with
the local ritual practices, including sacrifices to the royal bull, Apis, but
maintained his Greek heritage.
As this exhibition shows, the growing links
between Egypt and the outside world resulted in a complex society, with Greeks and
Egyptians sharing politics, religious beliefs, languages and customs. Aspects
of this fused culture were later exported across the Roman empire. (The
exhibition has a useful table explaining the Egyptian and Greek/Roman names of
the gods.)
But the cities had been built on unstable wetlands and a
series of catastrophes caused them to sink into the sea, probably late in the 8th
century AD. While the covering sand gave a measure of protection to the hidden treasures, it also
hampered their removal - visibility on the seabed can be poor, and there are
currents to contend with. The curators have recreated the eerie underwater
atmosphere by darkening the exhibition space. Photos and videos show the finds
as they were when first seen, with divers and fish circling around them.
The objects on display are lit by dramatic spotlights. Two
hundred of them are from the lost cities and include two colossal statues in
pink granite of a king and queen (above) - probably from the reign of Ptolemy II, 283 –
246 BC and also a delicate sculpture of Arsinoe II, a Egyptian queen portrayed
as the Greek goddess Aphrodite. There’s a bust of Neilos, god of the Nile, and a
sculpture in a mixed Egyptian/Greek style of a queen dressed as Isis (below).
Known as the Dark Queen, she’s
thought to be Cleopatra III (who married her much older uncle and was murdered
by one of her sons). A video conveys the magic of the moment when a diver encountered her.
Many of the items are related to worship. A gold dish was
probably used for pouring offerings and a series of model barges that at first
glimpse could be toys (below) were most likely used in the secret annual rituals known
as the Mysteries of Osiris, when the god was carried out on a sacred lake. The curators say these are extraordinary archaeological evidence of something that is otherwise known only through texts and images.
Among a further 100 objects drawn from collections in the British
Museum and Egypt that complement the finds is a piece of jewellery in gold and
lapis lazuli that belonged to the pharaoh Sheshonq I (943 – 922 BC).(below). It shows
him sailing in a barge on primeval waters – a direct link to Osiris.
Pectoral in gold, lapis lazuli and glass paste, belonging to
Sheshonq I. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. ©Franck Goddio / Hilti Foundation - Photo:
Christoph Gerigk
|
The two cities covered an area about the size of Paris. Goddio
estimates that only about five per cent has been excavated so far, so there are
many secrets yet to be revealed.
Until November 27, 2016. Admission £16.50, under 16 free.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/sunken_cities.aspx
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