At the end of August, archaeologists announced extraordinary new finds from the sunken city of Canopus, located off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt. For the first time in 25 years, artifacts were raised from the seabed, including a sphinx inscribed with Ramses II’s name, statues from the Ptolemaic and Roman eras, and shipwreck remains.

In this episode, we'll explore both these latest underwater discoveries and geological surveys that are helping researchers understand what caused Canopus to sink, because understanding how people of the past adapted to disasters could help us find solutions for today’s climate-threatened coastal cities.

Listen now to learn about the artifacts, myths, and history of Canopus.

Transcripts

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/22

Links and References

• See photos related to episode topics on Instagram
• Loving the macabre lore? Treat your host to a coffee!
• Info on Canopus and Other Underwater Archaeology Projects in Alexandria from Lead Archaeologist Franck Goddio
• Ancient recipes for cyprinum, a perfume made from henna grown at Canopus
• Text of Canopus Decree
• Text of Nicander's Theriaca
• Abdel-Rahman, R. 2018. Recent Underwater Excavations at Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus. Annales Du Service Des Antiquités de l’Égypte (ASAE) 92:233–258.
• Buraselis, K., M. Stefanou, and D. J. Thompson. 2013. The Ptolemies, the Sea and the Nile. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Egypt Museum. Canopus & Heracleion: Sunkencities.
• Fraser, P. M. 1972. Ptolemaic Alexandria. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Goddio, F., and A. Masson-Berghoff. 2016. Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost Worlds. Thames & Hudson / British Museum, London.
• Goddio, Franck. Projects: Sunken Civilizations: Canopus.
• Lavan, L., and M. Mulryan (editors). 2011. The Archaeology of Late Antique Paganism. Brill, Leiden.
• MacDonald, W. L., and J. A. Pinto. 1995. Hadrian’s Villa and Its Legacy. Yale University Press, New Haven.
• Marriner, N., C. Morhange, and C. Flaux. 2017. Geoarchaeology of the Canopic Region: A Reconstruction of the Holocene Palaeo-Landscapes. Méditerranée 128:51–64.
• PAThs-ERC. East Canopus: Sacri Lapides Aegypti.
• Sidebotham, S. E. 2011. Berenike and the Ancient Maritime Spice Route. University of California Press, Berkeley.
• Sidebotham, S. E. 2019. Ports of the Red Sea and the Nile Delta: Trade and Cultural Exchange. In The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Economy, edited by W. Scheidel. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

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