11
City & Village Tours: 0208 692 1133
of Troy. Menelaus, we are told, named the port after a
beloved Greek ship’s pilot who died there from a serpent
bite. However the name Canopus is first seen in a poem
from the 6th century BC and may come from the Ancient
Egyptian words Kah Nub meaning Golden Floor – an
ancient version of our own legend of the City of London
streets being paved with gold.
Getting the Names In A Pickle
Osiris the god of the underworld was worshipped in
Canopus in a peculiar form. Instead of the more familiar
tall green man with a Pharaoh’s beard, a staff and flail
resting on each shoulder and a tall crown like a Bishop’s
mitre (only with ostrich feathers), in Canopus the god
Osiris took the form of a vase with a human head. Down
the line this caused a bit of an archaeological muddle
resulting in the vases containing the pickled innards
of mummies becoming known as Canopic Jars.
The Canopic Decree
, bestowing various new titles
on Ptolemy III Euergetes (Benefactor) in the mid 3rd
century BC is a massive stone stele inscribed in both
Hieroglyphic and Demotic Egyptian as well as in
Classical Greek. It was second only to the Rosetta
Stone (inscribed for his grandson some 40 years later)
in providing the key to translating the Hieroglyphs.
It was Ptolemy III’s invasion of Syria in the Third Syrian
War which is alluded to, albeit cryptically, in Daniel 11
(7-9) – the same part of the Old Testament/Koran that
modern jihadis (modern - huh!) claim as their own
prophesy of the end times. By Roman times you might
not be surprised to hear that Canopus had become rather
dissolute – a typical Med resort attracting all sorts of
Roman debauchery not dissimilar to the antics seen at
Pompeii. And then it sank into the Delta mud.
The Mighty Hercules
Heracleion, also known as Thonis was first built in
the 12th century BC on a series of adjoining islands
intersected by canals in the Nile Delta. Today with
its neighbour Canopus it lies buried in the mud 30 feet
beneath the waters of the Mediterranean in Abu Qir
Bay a mile or so from the current coast line. During
the last days of the Pharaohs, Thonis-Heracleion was
the chief port for international trade and tax collection.
Legend ascribes its name to a visit by the mighty
Heracles (or Hercules) and indeed recent archaeological
finds have shown that here was a large temple to
Khonsou, son of Amon, known to the Greeks as
Heracles. Legend also says that Paris and Helen of Troy
were stranded here and put up by the noble Thonis when
fleeing from the cuckolded Menelaus just before the start
of the Trojan War.
The Cities Go Into Liquidation
The cities sank beneath the Mediterranean sometime
around the 3rd or 2nd century BC, probably when a
violent earthquake caused the liquefaction of the clay
stilts on which they were built. The destruction was
sudden – human remains have been found crushed
beneath blocks of stone. The burying of the cities and
all their contents so quickly in 10 feet of clay and silt
sediments has meant that objects are emerging 1000
years later in pristine condition and has led to the
comparison with Pompeii.
Here is what the British Museum has to say about the
forthcoming exhibition:
Preserved and buried under the sea for over a thousand
years, the stunning objects in the exhibition range from
magnificent colossal statues to intricate gold jewellery.
Sacred offerings and ritual objects reveal the cult
of Osiris – the god of the underworld who held the
promise of eternal life. They tell stories of political
power and popular belief, myth and migration, gods
and kings. Journey through centuries of encounters
between two celebrated cultures, meeting iconic
historical figures such as Alexander the Great, Cleopatra,
Hadrian and Antinous on the way.
Over the last 20 years, world-renowned archaeologist
Franck Goddio and his team have excavated spectacular
underwater discoveries using the latest technologies.
cont.
