Menouthis

Menouthis was a holy city in Egypt near Alexandria that was dedicated to the gods Isis and Serapis . It sank in the sea in the 8th century after several unexplained catastrophes .

Section of northern Egypt with the submerged cities of Canopus, Herakleion and Menouthis. Yellow is sunken land, on the right the Nile is dark blue ; the turquoise line is a non-existent extension

In 2000 and 2001, Franck Goddio and his team carried out investigations in the Bay of Abukir . They discovered the port city of Herakleion (now about six kilometers from the coast), parts of Canopus and evidence of the existence of Menouthis. They were about eight meters deep and covered with two meters of sand.

A temple dedicated to the goddess Isis made the city the religious center of ancient Egypt and attracted many pilgrims . The discovery of this very temple was for Goddio an indication that Menouthis is probably buried there.

Customs duties on ships that wanted to sail on the Nile from the Mediterranean brought the cities a high degree of prosperity. But the remains in the sea suggest that the people left the city abruptly and in a hurry without ever returning. Scientists agree that at least two disasters struck and drowned the area. One explanation is that the site sank below the sea surface due to multiple earthquakes . The region could also have been inundated by several Nile floods in 741 or 742.

Web links

• Menouthis in the Trismegistos database
• Mark Shwartz: Scientists, archaeologists and historians will unravel the mystery of Egypt's sunken cities , Stanford University , 2000
• Holly Davis: Science Notes 2001: The Sunken Cities of Egypt

Coordinates: 31 ° 17 ′ 0 ″  N , 30 ° 8 ′ 0 ″  E