Ruins Of 2 Ancient Egyptian Cities Found

Dennis Bottaro writes: "The ruins of the two cities lay virtually undisturbed 30 feet beneath the surface of the bay, Herakleion and Menouthis are now being revealed as among the most exciting finds in the history of marine archaeology."

Comments

Neat

[milgram]

Did they find an Amiga?

more evidence!

[maddogsparky]

I had a classical civilization class in college, and boy, does this raise memories of some class debates.

The story of Odessyus (Ulysis) (sp?) was thought to have come from stories older than 1200 B.C. There seems to have been a large civilization based out of Crete whose ruins seem to be the source for the legends about the Minatour. Again, this civilization fell about 1200 B.C.

Classical scholars could seem to agree on a reason for the downfall. Now we know (or can at least make a better guess)!

Re:more evidence!

[Big Torque]

Evidence of what? That the Odyssey is true? I have read the Iliad and the Odyssey and I love them but I do not think they are history or even embellished history. Troy was found, and now maybe more places mentioned in the Iliad and the Odyssey. I feel that it is more possible that the Iliad and the Odyssey are based on real places even maybe real peoplebut not history. Some spots like the death of Hector may be inspired by truth maybe, but being killed by the demigod Achilles I don't think so. It would be in my opinion like saying that the comedy of Hogans heroes is a true story because you found evidence in the form of a old WW2 POW camp.

Re:more evidence!

[Tin Weasil]

Ah yes, the search for the elusive "truth."

I firmly believe that the Oddyssey and the Illiad are in fact, true. But it is a truth that takes some explanation.

Certainly all of the events in these great works of classical literature did NOT happen. They are greatly embelished and in placed completely fabricated. But what they do tell us is the point-of-view that the ancients had about the world and our place in it.

Some of the things in these works are likely to be completely true: Some of the names of various places in the world and some of the people. These things, of course, are over romantacised and sometimes bear little resemblence to their true origins.

Hector might have very well been killed by Achilles, but the true Achilles would probably not be recongnized by us because he was probably a very mortal and vulnerable man who simply had the luck and skill to survive in such a way that legends of his greatness grew to the point where he was considered to be god-like.

Our own legends in the USA have outgrown the truth about the men who those legends are about: George Washington most certainly told a few lies in his lifetime (some are little white-lies that he told to Martha Washington and are documented in how his letters to her don't always corrispond to historical fact.)

The Oddyssey and the Illiad provide us a rare glimpse into the culture of the time in which the work was first written. It simply take a discerning mind to seperate fantasy from reality.

SIMILAR TO THE SAN ANDREAS

[wganz]

So we still have hope that Los Angeles will eventually fall into the Pacific?? 8-)

Re: SIMILAR TO THE SAN ANDREAS

[Joe Rumsey]

No, everything east of the San Andreas will one day fall into the Atlantic.

Minor correction

[_dave_the_one_]

I think I should point out, they haven't actually discovered these two cities, they have just found some amazing artifacts in them. This is quite different from discovering two ancient Egyptian cities at one time - a very unlikely event and one which would get many more news networks humming. This is a 'news-filler' article - ie it's an ongoing thing and they could have presented the news article at any time.

When I posted this, there were only two articles there. Maybe it's not too late to change the title? I suggest something about artifacts recovered from buried Egyptian cities shedding light on the cities' destruction, or something. If you'd read the article before posting the story you'd see very similar stuff written there.

Please /. (and this is a genuine comment, not a troll) please try reading the articles before posting. At this time of night not too many people are going to miss it if you spend five extra minutes reading first...

Re:Minor correction

[_dave_the_one_]

Compare:
The ruins of the two cities lay virtually undisturbed 30 feet beneath the surface of the bay, covered by three feet of silt and sand until a French underwater archaeologist named Franck Goddio first began probing their stones and recovering their gold nearly five years ago.
(my bold) to: Ruins of 2 Ancient Egyptian Cities Found

This title is wildly inaccurate - can't you either change it or read the article before you post it? After all, it's late at night here, and it wouldn't hurt you much to read the article first...

Ozymandias

[Anonymous Coward]

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear --
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.'

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

Re:Ozymandias

[OmegaDan]

Ozymandril said something very simliar in Monkey Island 4: Escape from monkey island :)

What is truth?

[maddogsparky]

Evidence of what? That the Odyssey is true?

If you mean that the Odyssey is not true, word for word, I'd have to agree with you. A better argument would be that the story is analagous to a movie based on true life events. Look at some modern examples:

William Cody, John Henry and Bill Hicock were all real people in the last part of the 19th century. A man who brings the Old West to Europe in the form of his traveling Wild West show, a man who dug a section of a tunnel faster than a broken machine and a man who had a very fast draw are already the stuff of legends. What will more than 3000 years do to their stories?

If historians argue about the true history of Buffalo Bill, Iron John Henry or Wild Bill in 3000 years, some are bound to say that it is all made up. We know today that it is the truth. Who can say what we regard as purely myth today is not, in fact, a glamorized, distored chronicle of the past?

Civilized societies don't use Amigas

[Niscenus]

They use Macs. Egypt was, afterall, a society of art and culture. And, if you ask me, the names Job and Jobs look suspiciously similar.

The palace at Knossos

[Niscenus]

The Minoans, as named after the para-mythical king, were, indeed, a highly advanced race, existing before the Hellenistic age, most important reminant being the Palace at Knossos. Their contact, however, would not have gone beyond Asia Minor (Cymarius) to the east and Alexandria to the south, with little contact to the Greeks of the north. The Minoan culture ended abruptly, possibly due to a major disaster, occuring around the time of the Thera event*, thus, more too likely, the cause. However, they must have went somewhere, and, it is believed by some, that they, along with the survivors of the Thera event, would setup the Phillistinian culture, as it has similar marks of advanced civilization, despite how the bible regards them as barbarous gentiles. *Thera event: The large, fertile island of Thera erupted in a tumultuous explosion, which destroyed the island, leaving behind a small cluster of key-like remenants. Thera was, without knowledge to anyone at the time, a rare type of volcano--a particular type of sheild volcano. Though I doubt any here are old enough to remember, refer to the more recent Krakatowa eruption.