The island of Antirhodos, isolated from the contemporary Alexandrian shoreline, was according to Strabo the property of kings (Geography 17.1.9). It was here in the third century BC that the Ptolemies built a palace and on a monumental quayside reaching back towards the city a temple dedicated to the goddess Isis. Facing out into the harbor, the Iseum would have been a striking landmark in the scenography of Alexandria, placing Isis in the heart of the Portus Magnus and presenting the view of her temple as one of the first that sailors arriving in the port would have seen. It continued to receive donations and to be redecorated into the period of Roman rule. The quayside upon which it stood did not share the strong natural foundations of the island and its banks failed, most likely during an earthquake. This event, dated to around AD 50, brought the temple crashing into the waters of the Portus Magnus on either side of the quayside. These collapse deposits, including important pieces of sculpture, objects from the temple treasury and remnants of its architecture and decoration, were largely protected from the recycling of the remains of the temple that on land. They were rediscovered during surveys and excavations in the Portus Magnus by the Institut Européen d’Archéologie Sous-Marine under the direction of the author, Franck Goddio. In this volume, Goddio examines the archaeological remains from the temple that identify it as an Iseum and discusses its changing role in late Hellenistic and early Roman Alexandria.

The chapters in this volume are organised in such a way as to provide windows onto constructing, remaking, and dismantling sacred landscapes in cities in the north western Delta of Egypt, notably Thonis-Heracleion and Alexandria, and also more widely in Lower Egypt. They are drawn from a conference on the Religious Landscapes of Lower Egypt held at the University of Zurich and present case studies that examine different aspects of the long-term life-histories of the landscape and the unfolding relationships between the people of Egypt and the sacred spaces in which they lived and went about their daily tasks. Through the examination of objects, buildings, cities and landscapes, the papers aim to capture a sense of how space was actively constructed and how these social spaces change through their active manipulation.

A study of the construction, structure and identification of Ship 17, a Late Period baris-vessel discovered during underwater excavations at Thonis-Heracleion, a sunken city in Aboukir Bay. Ship 17 is placed within the traditions of naval architecture both in Egypt and the wider Mediterranean.

This work explores the theological defences conceived by the Egyptians at Thonis-Heracleion to guard the Canopic gate, which in the Saïte period was the main entrance to the port of Thonis-Heracleion, the entry-point to Egypt for foreign vessels. The divine forces, including Khonsu-Thoth and Neith, were deployed alongside military forces that were also located at the Canopic gate. The temple to Khonsu-Thoth, Lord of the Gezirah, was dedicated by Amasis, and also served to legitimate the power of the Saïte kings. This study brings together a range of material evidence for these theological defences.

This monograph contains the joint proceedings of the first two conferences organised by the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology. It contains 23 papers that cover land-based and underwater excavation and survey in the area of the North-Western Nile Delta, principally concerning the cities of Alexandria and Heracleion-Thonis, as well as studies of aspects of the material culture from these sites.

This monograph presents a translation, commentary and interpretation of the bilingual monumental Stele of Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, which stood in the temple district of Heracleion-Thonis in the north-western Nile Delta of Egypt. The six metre high stele was erected sometime between either 141/140 and 131 or 124 and 116 BC and was discovered during the excavations of the European Institute of Underwater Archaeology. Unfortunately immersion in the sea has damaged the surface of the stele and little of the Greek text can be made out. Nevertheless much of the hieroglyphic portion of the document can be read and interpreted. It is laid out in traditional style complete with a royal protocol and eulogy and contains information about the local affairs of the priests of Heracleion.

This volume presents the geoarchaeological analysis of the Aboukir Bay by the Smithsonian Institute. This study outlines the reasons for the submergence of the ancient coast line through detailed analysis of geological core samples.

This book presents the first topographic outline of the city of Heracleion and the nearby Ptolemaic and Byzantine sites, all currently being excavated underwater in the Bay of Aboukir. This volume is the product of ten years of survey and excavation.