Sunken cities

Legend and mythology gave us Atlantis and Vineta. In reality we have these sites:

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• Phasis, Georgia. This city could be the legendary destination of Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece. Structures discovered at the Black Sea coast in 1999.
• Helike, Greek city destroyed by earthquake and sunk in 373 BC. Located in 2000, on land but 3 m down in sediment and clay, which seems to have been under water for some time.
• Zeugma. Large Hellenistic city, founded shortly after the death of Alexander, then a Roman garrison city for 5000 soldiers, finally deserted after a Persian attack in 252 AD. Being located at the shore of Euphrates River, the lower parts were submerged by a Turkish dam project in 2000. Emergency-investigated by French archaeologists during the five years before it was submerged. The greatest find was a 14-room Roman villa with painted murals and floor mosaics. The beautiful mosaic masterpieces, e.g. with Daedalos and Pasiphaes, were recovered for the local museum. Among other, the walls, the streets, and the sophisticated sewer system was investigated. The area may also have been the location of the Biblical Garden of Eden, but that's a different story.
• Sunken city in Yunnan lake. News agency Xinhua reports on China's first-ever underwater archaeological expedition. The site, possibly Han Dynasty, is deep in Fuxian Lake in Southwest China's Yunnan Province.
• Heraklion & Menouthis, ancient cities near Alexandria, recently located on 8 m depth. Heraklion was a maritime port and Menouthis was a sacred city devoted to Isis & Serapis. These cities were submerged in the 8tc century AD as a result of earthquakes or a Nile flood. Discovered and investigated by the team of Franck Goddio. Ref New York Times, 26 December 2000, Archaeology, June 2000, Der Spiegel 24/2000.
• Rungholt. German city on the North Sea coast. Submerged by a flood in 1362. For centuries the city was thought to be mere mythological, until evidence and location was rediscovered in the 20th century.
• Santa Fe la Vieja, submerged city in Argentina. Founded in 1573, abandoned in 1660.
• Port Royal, Jamaica. This pirate city had become one of the wealthiest cities in the world, with multi-storey brick houses. Parts of the city sank after earthquake in 1692. Remains can easily be viewed by free diving. Investigated by Robert F. Marx and others, presently by Donny L Hamilton. Described in National Geographic Feb 1960 and INJA 1.1972.

Legendary sunken cities

• Atlantis. This mythological city was described by Plato. Taking the story literally makes little sense, meaning a huge island in the Atlantic having disappeared without trace. Perhaps the legend was inspired by the volcanic destruction of the Minoan island Thera (Santorini) around 1600 BC.
• Vineta. This mythological sunken city was described by Adam of Bremen in 1075 AD, and in 1170 AD reported destroyed by the Danes. According to Dr. Klaus Goldmann, Berliner Museum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, the remains may be under the seabottom off the North-German city Barth. So far there is no evidence.

Links

• Issyk-Kul - the sunken cities

Similar sites are listed under Submerged structures. Possible future submerged cities are in Turkey, threatened by planned dams along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Zeugma is already flooded and Hasankeyf is planned for. Will these sites be investigated before flooded? The ancient city Assur in Iraq is also endangered.