Archaeologists were able to find treasures in Egypt that were hidden within a sunken underwater temple.
Sunken Underwater Temple
Archaeologists were able to find a sunken sanctuary and temple as they were exploring a canal situated off Egypt's Mediterranean coast. The structures were found to hold prehistoric treasures that pointed to the deities Aphrodite and Amun.
Amun was one of ancient Egypt's eight primordial deities. He is regarded as the deity of the air. In the time of the Middle Kingdom, Amun was regarded as the King of other deities. In the New Kingdom, he became a nationally revered deity.
The temple was originally constructed for Amun and experienced partial collapse in a cataclysmic event that took place in the middle of the second century B.C. The structure held extreme importance. In fact, pharaohs visited the temple in order to get their power title as universal kings from the supreme ancient Egyptian pantheon deity.
The structure used to be part of the Thonis-Heracleion ancient port city situated in the Bay of Aboukir. This ancient city met its destruction due to a strong earthquake. Tidal waves also made the land liquify and ultimately sink.
Treasures and Secrets
Archaeologists found several treasures and secrets as they were examining the temple. Their findings include gold jewelry, ritual instruments made of silver, and alabaster containers.
Franck Goddio, a French underwater archaeologist and the president of the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM), expresses how moving it is to find such delicate artifacts that remained preserved despite the cataclysm's strength and violence.
Greek Sanctuary Found
By the temple's east, a Greek sanctuary for Aphrodite was also found. The structure also held various items, such as imported ceramic and bronze objects.
Aphrodite is referred to as the Greek goddess of fertility and love. The deity's main worship sites were at Amathus and Paphos.
The archaeologists explain that the finding shows how Greeks that had the permission to trade and stay within the city during 688 B.C. to 525 B.C were also allowed to have dedicated sanctuaries for the deities they worshiped. This was during the Pharaohs of the Saïte dynasty.
The sanctuary also contained some Greek weapons, which show that mercenaries from Greece were present at some point within the region. These mercenaries may have been defending Kingdom access at the Canopic branch at the westernmost of Nile.
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