Heracleion Photos: Lost Egyptian City Revealed After 1,200 Years Under Sea

It is a city shrouded in myth, swallowed by the Mediterranean Sea and buried in sand and mud for more than 1,200 years. But now archeologists are unearthing the mysteries of Heracleion, uncovering amazingly well-preserved artifacts that tell the story of a vibrant classical-era port.
Known as Heracleion to the ancient Greeks and Thonis to the ancient Eygptians, the city was rediscovered in 2000 by French underwater archaeologist Dr. Franck Goddio and a team from the European Institute for Underwater Acheology (IEASM) after a four-year geophysical survey. The ruins of the lost city were found 30 feet under the surface of the Mediterranean Sea in Aboukir Bay, near Alexandria.
A new documentary highlights the major discoveries that have been unearthed at Thonis-Heracleion during a 13-year excavation. Exciting archeological finds help describe an ancient city that was not only a vital international trade hub but possibly an important religious center .

 

According to the Telegraph, leading research now suggests that Thonis-Heracleion served as a mandatory port of entry for trade between the Mediterranean and the Nile.
So far, 64 ancient shipwrecks and more than 700 anchors have been unearthed from the mud of the bay, the news outlet notes. Other findings include gold coins, weights from Athens (which have never before been found at an Egyptian site) and giant tablets inscribed in ancient Greek and ancient Egyptian. Researchers think that these artifacts point to the city's prominence as a bustling trade hub.
Researchers have also uncovered a variety of religious artifacts in the sunken city, including 16-foot stone sculptures thought to have adorned the city's central temple and limestone sarcophagi that are believed to have contained mummified animals

 

Experts have marveled at the variety of artifacts found and have been equally impressed by how well preserved they are.

 

“The archaeological evidence is simply overwhelming,” Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe, a University of Oxford archeologist taking part in the excavation, said in a press release obtained by The Huffington Post. “By lying untouched and protected by sand on the sea floor for centuries they are brilliantly preserved.”
A panel of experts presented their findings at an Oxford University conference on the Thonis-Heracleion excavation earlier this year.
But despite all the excitement over the excavation, one mystery about Thonis-Heracleion remains largely unsolved: Why exactly did it sink? Goddio's team suggests the weight of large buildings on the region's water-logged clay and sand soil may have caused the city to sink in the wake of an earthquake

 

 

Ancient Alien Influence on Human Civilization

I just finished reading the books "Chariots of the Gods".I bought the book after watching the first episode of the Ancient Alliens series on the history channel . I was fascinated but reluctant to buy into the notion that prehistoric humans did not develop their own arts and technologies, but rather were taught art and science by visitors from outer space(extra-terrestrials). To be honest, I do find it implausible that some people believe the ancient astronaut theory. I started watching the series around December of 2010 and posted my initial thoughts and opinions about the series....here . My historical knowledge of many of the civilizations is very limited. I didn't know about many of them prior to watching the series.

In as much as I am open to "new ideas" , I find it hard to believe that our ancient ancestors memories were so much worse than ours that they could not remember these "alien visitations" well enough to properly preserve an accurate account of the visitations. A sane person can't possibly believe that ancient myths and religious stories are the imperfect recollection of ancient astronauts recorded by ancient priests. There is overwhelming evidence to the contrary that prehistoric humans were quite intelligent and resourceful.

However, I am not disputing the possibility that visitors from outer space might have visited earth thousands of years ago and might have communicated with our ancestors.I mean, the fact that a group of people are trying to figure out a phenomenon that has gone unexplained for generations is of itself commendable, but it seems more likely that prehistoric humans themselves were responsible for their own arts, technology and culture.

I honestly do not think anyone, no matter how intelligent he/she is can confidently say that Aliens did visit or did not visit.It is a guessing game and sure we can offer our opinions as to why we feel one way or the other, but the extra terrestrial phenomenon is it too intricate and complex for any human being to make a definitive statements or theorize about....

You Still Call It Christian Music?

Christian music used to teach the doctrine of Christ as revealed in God's Word. Its musical notation characterized the attributes of God. Its lyrics echoed the Word of God, scripturally. It was characterized by the Godly presentation of musicians whose daily lives both private and public appearance emulated true Godly attributes.

What, however, has happened to Christian music? Christian music has departed from following its true form. No longer does Christian musical notation attempt to characterize Godly attributes, but it does characterize sensual feelings through sensual rhythm and harmony. No longer do Christian Lyrics strongly and scripturally echo God's word, but weakly squeak of moral platitudes and vague, subjective, pious feelings. Its musicians derive their dramatization from Rock musicians, hip hop,etc , and its symbolization is a mix-mash of pseudo-religionists wallowing in a good god, good devil, good man mire. Such musical mush is a mournful departure from anything that might be scripturally termed "spiritual."

Many fundamentalists have become enamoured with this pseudo-Christian music because of its sensual fleshly appeal, and defend its "spirituality" with great vigor and apparent offense. As music mirrors the soul of an individual, so does this pseudo-Christian music reflect the carnal condition of the souls and lives of such persons, be they clergy or laity.

Many pastors of fundamental churches consistently fill their auditoriums and congregations with this kind of religious musical mush. Often such pastors wonder about the quality of spiritual growth in their church members not recognizing that such spiritually weak, carnal, sensual music is one of their problems, personally and ecclesiastically

A Noisy World

It is quite evident that we are living in one terribly noisy world and it seems to be getting worse every day. Everywhere we go we are accosted by loud, unwanted sound. When we enter elevators, malls and restaurants we are engulfed by muzak. I recently had lunch at apple bees restaurant with a friend and found the background music so loud that it interfered with normal conversation and the enjoyment of my lunch. When I asked the waitress if she could turn the music off, or at least down, she said, "I don't think we can." Surely we as a people are still in charge of volume controls.

When you add lawnmowers, leaf blowers, jack hammers, jet engines, transport trucks, and horns and buzzers of all types and descriptions, you have a wall of constant noise and irritation. Even when watching a television program at a reasonable volume level you are blown out of your chair when a commercial comes on at the decibel level of a jet.

We seem to have created a cultural acceptance of our noisy world in spite of the fact that it is making us ill physically and psychologically. We can't seem to live without background sound. We have friends who turn on the television the moment they awaken in the morning and leave it on all day. The house is just too quiet if it isn't on. Most of my friends tell me that the first thing they do on arriving home after work it to turn on their television or music player as loudly as would be tolerated by sane humans around.

While we have very little control over noise in the environment at large, we do have control over our own private environment. So i decided to do a little research on ways to cultivate a friendship with silence since I was about to go nuts. I came across an article online about developing friendship with silence and these are some of the few ways the article suggested

* Make a conscious commitment to the experience and appreciation of silence.
* Go for a walk in nature. Let the silence soothe your spirit.
* When you are alone in your residence turn off all noise making appliances. Begin with fifteen minutes of silence and gradually increase the duration.
* Learn how to meditate and schedule a ten minute meditation period once or twice a day. Gradually extend your meditation time.
* When driving to work turn off your car radio and drive in silence
I still struggle with the fifth one because I find it very weird and strange driving without any sound. I don't know anyone that drives without listening to music, news or talking on the cell phone. Hopefully I get to enjoy and cherish periods of silence which I am hoping with help reduce my stress midst our ***** noisy world..........

Let Them Die !

 How far have we degenerated as a society? I watched the “debate” on Tuesday and honesty got sick to my stomach.The next morning it came to me why - after all I do not take much notice of the garbage spewed by politicians and the so-called political pond-ants.

I didn't want to believe that congress man Allen Grayson was right when he made the controversial statement on the floor of the house of representatives that ultimately cost him his seat.You'll recall then Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)'s controversial charge during the 2010 health care debate was that the GOP's plan was little more than "Don’t get sick…And if you do, die quickly." (video here)

Wolf Blitzer's question exposed the lost of slight of basic reality. The so-called "free-market" healthcare policy translates to a death sentence for 45,000 Americans/year simply because they are too poor to afford healthcare insurance.

And this doesn't account for the many who have insurance(I have insurance and my deduct-able was ******- story for another day ) but lose their lives when insurance companies refuse to authorize vital procedures.

People are dying so the privileged few can profit in the name of making the system efficient and these jokers shout, "Yes!" "yes!" "yes!"..Let them die!!!!!

Are We Losing The Ability To Reason?

I believe that if the electricity ever unplugs people of these generation from what they call a "life" (tv, movies, music, games, etc.) that most of them will go stark raving mad.The silence will do it.... trust me



Yes, people are alarmingly lost to much of the concrete reality around them. Today everything is just "an opinion." As though there were no truth, no reality, no solid, unforgiving external measure of things anywhere in existence. If everything is just an opinion, and lies are called just as good or just as real as truth,very soon everything becomes entirely meaningless. If everything is just as good and just as real as anything else (true or false, good or bad), then really, nothing matters. And that's where a lot of people are right now. "Nothing matters, so lets just enjoy the party while it lasts."



It's almost creepy talking to people that you're trying to inform about something that is true and real, and either they cannot understand it, they can't care about it even if they know they should, or else they so don't want it to be true, they take it for granted...... "you're just full of it". But again, that's most people these days.

Ancient Aliens Episode of History's Mysteries

History channels "Ancient Aliens," poses the question to the audience, "do ancient texts refer to extraterrestrials?" This one-hour episode explores evidence of UFO sightings throughout time, written in texts, the Bible, depicted in ancient stone statues and modern sightings of spacecraft as important clues to ancient aliens' presence on the earth.

Just watched the second episode. I was shocked that the history channel would fund such garbage. Where was the archeologist's balance?

Before watching the "Ancient Alien" series I had never heard of this theory, or I may have but not remembered it. I generally like to keep an open mind about many things, well as long as they make sense. I do believe there is life beyond our Earth and I do not deny the possibility of space faring civilizations simply because discounting self annihilation that is what our own future is looking like, but it is also entirely possible that we are also the most advanced civilization in our galaxy too. After watching these episodes which continuously degraded in quality and referencing; going from it's possible that advanced civilizations have visited us to such things as: slave labor, mating, conquest, aerial battles, power plants and etc. The latest episode "The Mission" explored the reasons why the aliens would come here These "Ancient Astronaut theorists" seemed OK in the first two episodes, but when they started giving their reasoning as to why even a hyper advanced galactic civilization would want to interact with us I got a little bit angry - they are delusional and completely out of touch with what is real science and evolution of technology.. my opinion.

I am not against the fact that an advanced civilization may have visited us, but I think it would have been a curious endeavor and not more than a probe for long term observation where the level of actual interaction and disturbance is kept to the absolute minimum. I ordered "the chariots of the gods"..lol