Abstract
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 Schnepp1 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 discovered2,3. 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.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Stanley, J.-D. et al. Nature 412, 293–294 (2001).
Nur, A. M. EOS, Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 81, F21 (2000).
Pain, S. New Scientist 43–45 (20 October 2001).
Toussoun, O. Mem. Inst. Egypte 4, 1–212 (1922).
Popper, W. The Cairo Nilometer (Univ. California Press, Berkeley, 1951).
Said, R. The River Nile, Geology, Hydrology and Utilization (Pergamon, Oxford, 1993).
Reussing, G. Berliner Geowissenschaftliche Abh. D 7 (1994).
Fraedrich, K. et al. Int. J. Climatol. 17, 1301–1315 (1997).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Said, R. Did Nile flooding sink two ancient cities?. Nature 415, 37–38 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415037a
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/415037a
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
