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Treasures Recovered From Sunken Egyptian City
Markgor writes "Found an interesting article on the recovery of treasures from the sunken Egyptian city of Herakleion. The city, along with the cities of Canopus and Menouthis, sank to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea after a massive earthquake. The cities were only known through Greek tragedies, travel logs, and legends until last year when they were rediscovered." As a kid, I always wanted to be in archeology - things are different obviously. This city is interesting - I've seen shots of it found by using satellite photos of the seabed.
things are different, obviously."
A master wordsmith if ever there was one.
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What "mysterious circumstances" are they talking about? The main facility was destroyed during one of the Roman civil wars, and the secondary facility, located in the temple of Serapis, was ransacked and burned by a mob of fanatical Christians. Moreover, all this happened in the closing years of the third century AD, not the first century BC.
You'd think the author's hometown library had been burned to judge from this shoddy article.
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This article has actually been posted twice.
As someone stated in the earlier article, the stone objects has been in the water for 2000 years, and when they come in contact with air, they will rapidly crumble. They have to desalinate them if they want to bring it up to the surface.
"The assembler gave birth to the compiler. Now there are ten thousand languages." - Tao of Programming
If they don't desalinate them, they will crumble to dust in just a few years. The alternative is to just let them lie in the water. But since they have held 2000 years in the water already, it can't hurt with some thousand years more ;)
They bring it up to the surface for they scientists and tourists watch them and study them. But I've got a much better idea: Underwater Safari!
Wouldn't it be amazing floating round in a large, complete, 2000 year old city, which was a famous port, and legendary from antic history? They could use small submarines with large windows we could see through.
And the best part is that it will be saved from the hands of the evil scientists ;) They should have learned from the early 20th century archaelogy-methods.
"The assembler gave birth to the compiler. Now there are ten thousand languages." - Tao of Programming
Several have answered the "how" part already, but as for the "why" ...
Common stones used for statues were sandstone, limestone and marble, all of which are rather porous. Leaving them soak for a few thousand years in water will likely dissolve some of the stone, leaving it rather fragile.
To keep these treasures from further damage, they must be carefully cleaned, and likely then they'd need to be further stabilised in some fashion. In lapidary work, a clear liquid epoxy is commonly used - I have no idea what might be used here.
Lemon curry?
And you didn't tell anyone!?
:)
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You do realize that this is all just promotional material for Disney's Atlantis movie?
According to the article, the city was sunk about 1200 years ago, ca. 800 CE. Plato was born in 427 BCE and died in 347 BCE. This puts Plato's career almost as far back from the sinking of the city as the sinking of the city is from now.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
As the know-it-all showoff I am...
my particular area was medieval/postmedieval Northern European shipwrecks
But that's one of the most interesting parts of the field. The Baltic sea has too little salt for most ocean life, and too much salt for most lake life. In particular, nothing that eats sunken wood can live there. So the Baltic is pretty much the only place in the world to find ancient ships. Most of them aren't even discovered yet, much less taken ashore.
This story from a few days ago is very similar, but a different source and different info.
Wouldnt an UPDATE be more appropriate?
Mark Duell
Well. I was wondering when something like this might roll along my way.
I was an underwater archaeologist in a past incarnation. While it makes for fabulous cocktail conversation, and I wouldn't be the same person had I not pursued it, archaeology is a bit like the larger picture of academics as viewed by the corporate married with children set (which I am now among):
looks great and romantic and carefree on paper, but the reality is there are fiefdoms and unchecked politics to deal with, and every month in the field is two years in a blinky fluorescent 8 X 8 lab room.
Unless you love the subject (my particular area was medieval/postmedieval Northern European shipwrecks. How's that for obscure?), and I mean love in the "religious exctasy...hold me down before I evanesce" sort of dedication, your interest becomes a soul-crushing, only-eating-mac-and-cheese-this-month (or "how far can stretch $500"), no-personal-life grind, particularly if it involves endless graduate school. I have friends still pursuing a Master's after 7 years.
bleah. Though I'd like to be a dig bum for a summer again!
Does anyone know how you desalinate stone objects like statues?
In the past, the most common way to clean and desalinate stone was to immerse it in a tank of water for a period of weeks or months. This process can cause considerable damage because it loosens friable stone and pigment from the stone surface. A better method was developed in the 1960s, by which a clay poultice (magnesium silicate and deionized water) is used to suspend a thin layer of water over the surface of the sculpture, like a cosmetic mudpack, sucking out both dirt and salts. This treatment minimizes the contact with water and also does less harm to the fragile surface of the sculpture.
And why it is necessary?
Because french fries tastes better with a little 2000 year old salt on it, and this was the only place to find it!
Hapi, the god of flooding.
Is that irony or what?