Did Nile flooding sink two ancient cities?
The discovery of the two cities of Herakleion and East Canopus under the waters of the Bay of Abu Qir (east of Alexandria, Egypt) stirred worldwide attention when it was first announced in the summer of 2000. Their disappearance some 1,250 years ago has been ascribed by Stanley, Goddio and Schnepp to a strong Nile flood that caused riverbank failure and the destruction of the two cities, rather than to the action of earthquakes, as was first proposed when the ruins were discovered. But I believe that this interpretation is flawed, because no flood could have reached the Abu Qir Bay at the time of the disappearance of the two cities, as the Canopic branch of the Nile, along whose banks they were situated, had dried to a trickle more than 200 years earlier.
Said
Rushdi
R
rushaid@hotmail.com
D001106:Archaeology; D002947:Cities / Q000266:history*; D004190:Disasters / Q000266:history*; D004534:Egypt; D005618:Fresh Water; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval