Getting around in the Nile Delta

Speaking of the Nile Delta, we obviously mean the embouchure of the river Nile where its waters mingle with those of the Mediterranean Sea. 

The problem, however, is to picture the ancient cities and harbors along that coastline. There are several elements to be taken into account. 

Historically, we best know the role played by Alexandria and Pelusium, situated on opposite sides of the Delta, roughly 250 kilometers apart. 

[From Pinterest]

Pelusium, about 30 kilometers south of modern Port Said, was looking to the East. This city was the entrance gate for conquerors coming from the east. Alexander entered Egypt through Pelusium, as did the Hittites and Persians before him. For the Egyptian pharaohs, it was their gateway to the lands on the eastern Mediterranean. The city played an essential role as a transit station for the goods coming from and going to the lands around the Red Sea (see: The fame of elusive Pelusium). 

Alexander founded Alexandria after he returned from visiting the oracle in Siwah. It arose on the most westerly end of the Delta, on the Canopic Branch of the Nile. The city was intentionally oriented towards Crete and Greece, creating a close trading route with his homeland.

The Greeks had already established thriving trade emporiums in the area. Best known is Naucratis, settled as early as the 7th century BC (see: Egypt, land of the free for ancient Greeks?) As mighty Egypt allowed them to operate a lucrative business, even granting them special privileges, Naucratis eventually became a melting pot of Greek and Egyptian art and culture where they lived in harmony with each other. In its heyday, it was home to at least 16,000 people who appear to have lived in high-rise buildings three to six floors high, not unlike the mud-brick houses we encounter today in Yemen. 

Archaeological research has found proof that the Canopic Branch of the Nile was navigable all the way down to the heart of the city. However, Herodotus gave us the impression that the freight from the ships arriving from the Mediterranean was to be transshipped into barges which would sail to reach Naucratis (see: An update about Naucratis). 

A look at the above map illustrates that vessels heading for the harbor of Naucratis had to sail an extra distance from the Mediterranean. Alexandria was obviously more accessible. 

[Mosaic from Madaba, Jordan, showing the Nile with Pelusium]

Another major port was Heracleion, which the ancient Egyptians called Thonis, founded back in the 8th century BC. Known more commonly as Thonis-Heracleion, the site has been discovered under ten meters of mud near modern Abukir Bay (see: Heracleion, ancient Greek port in Egypt and Underwater excavation at Heracleion still ongoing). The above map shows Thonis/Thanis on a more easterly branch of the Nile, closer to Pelusium. Recent excavations have exposed 64 ancient beautifully preserved shipwrecks and more than 700 anchors. Heracleion reached its peak between the 6th and the 4th century BC. 

Halfway between Alexandria and El-Alamein, Ptolemy II Philadelphus founded Taposiris Magna around 280-270 BC. The harbor played a significant role on the trading route for the goods from the east arriving over Lake Mareotis and overland from the Cyrenaica (see: Cyrene, founded by the Greeks). Alexandria, built on the headland between the Mediterranean Sea and Lake Mareotis, claimed taxes on the goods that transited through the city until the 7th century AD at least (see: Taposiris Magna in Egypt). 

The Egyptians had founded the city of Marea, as highlighted on the map, in the 7^th century BC. It actually lies on the southern shore of Lake Mareotis, modern Lake Maryut, and 45 kilometers southwest of Alexandria. Speaking of strategic locations! 

The last major city in the Nile Delta is Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, which Alexander saw in full glory with its countless temples and at least 30 towering obelisks. The sunrise over Heliopolis must have been a sight for sore eyes when the first sunrays hit the golden pyramidal point on the obelisks (see: Buried secrets of Heliopolis)! 

This religious center was a meeting place where the priests studied philosophy, astronomy, and theology. Many Greeks like Homer, Pythagoras, Plato, and Solon consulted the available library that contained the entire history of Egypt. This seat of learning was eventually moved to Alexandria once the city was completed. 

For centuries, every single Pharaoh made it to the sacred city of Heliopolis, where the gods would confer him their power. When Alexander, who fully understood the importance of this ritual, followed suit, he was accepted by the Egyptians as their new Pharaoh.

How thermal water preserves bronze statues

The little-known town of San Casciano dei Bagni, some 160 kilometers north of Rome, made headlines after archaeologists discovered more than two dozen statues and several statuettes from Roman times.

Thanks to the local thermal water quality, the statues were in a remarkable state of preservation. They depicted Greek and Roman gods and goddesses such as Hygieia and Apollo that stood in a sanctuary before they were plunged into these thermal waters. Scholars assume this happened as a ritual that occurred around the 1st century AD. The idea behind this ritual was simple: you give to the water hoping the water gives something in return. 

Archaeologists remarked that it was pretty unusual that statues for this kind of offering were created in expensive bronze. They generally were made in terracotta. This practice may indicate that powerful local families ruled this elite settlement, as documented in the Etruscan and Latin inscriptions they left behind. 

The precious bronzes were found underneath a hoard of nearly 6,000 coins – a mixture of gold, silver, and bronze specimen. 

The statues have been dated to the period between the 2nd and the 1st century BC when the region underwent the transition from Etruscan to Roman rule. It is thought that in these days of conflict, the sanctuary of the Baths became a multicultural and multilingual haven of peace. 

These precious artifacts are said to be the most important find since the Riace bronzes. After being restored, they will make their way to a new museum in San Casciano for all to see.

Alexandria: Past Futures

Bozar in Brussels is presently hosting an exhibition about Alexandria that will run until January 8, 2023. 

The event covers the period from the foundation of the city by Alexander the Great in 334 BC to the 4^th century AD. After that date, Alexandria lived as a small fishing port slowly sinking into the Mediterranean Sea. At the same time, the proud remains of the city disappeared under layers of sand and dust. 

Occasional Byzantine and Arabic travelers left us sketchy descriptions of the scant remains and the monuments built on top of the antique ruins. 

When Napoleon landed here in 1798, only a few columns hinted at earlier streets, and obelisks stood as reminiscent city markers. During this campaign, the Stone of Rosetta was discovered, a three-lingual decree issued in 196 BC, i.e., during Ptolemaic rule. The first two texts were written in ancient Egyptian, using hieroglyphs and Demotic script; the bottom section repeated the text in ancient Greek. We have to thank the Frenchman Champollion for deciphering the hitherto secret hieroglyphic signs, disclosing the history of a world that had been hidden for almost 13 centuries. 

The exhibition opens with a lovely bronze statuette of Alexander the Great, initially on horseback. I know the piece from many photographs, but this is the first time I have seen it on display. It is on loan from the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art, Geneva, and has been dated to Ptolemaic times between the 3^rd and the 1^st century BC. In my eyes, it is worth the visit by itself! 

Central in this exhibition is the Pharos, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. There is an interesting cardboard model made in the 19^th or 20^th century, but also two color drawings presented in a manuscript from the 16^th century by Muhammad Ibn-Abdal-Rahim kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. The famous lighthouse is evidently pictured on several coins, like the beautiful example of Hadrian. On the reverse, Isis is holding a sail in front of the lighthouse (Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, départment des Monnaies). 

A separate showcase is occupied by a delegation of the Ptolemaic dynasty. We recognize Berenice II, 246-222 BC, from Hermopolis Magna (Musée de Mariemont); a limestone Ptolemy III, 3^rd century BC (Antikensammlung in Kassel); and a well-polished basalt head of a Roman Emperor, 30 BC-68 AD (Louvre). 

Close by, there is the marble head of a charming Berenice II from the 3^rd century BC that displays traces of paint (Kassel Antikensammlung). She is set next to a Colossal limestone Royal with his typical Egyptian headdress but with a face executed in pure Hellenistic style. A proof, if necessary, of the blending of both cultures. The Royal has been dated 305-222 BC (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum). 

Nothing is left of Alexandria’s Museum or its precious Library, meant to be a university and research center where great minds met and exchanged their knowledge. The list of philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, astronomers, geographers, physicians, botanists, and zoologists seems endless. 

For example, the exhibition highlights Ctesibius of Alexandria, who invented all kinds of complicated machines, including a water clock and a fire engine. 

Alexandria was famous for its high-standard craftsmen whose art showed in everyday objects such as those exhibited here and dating from the 1^st and 4^th century AD: a glass aryballos, beaker, fial, a few drinking glasses, and a finely polished onyx skyphos. Most remarkable, however, were the fascinating mosaics using tiny tesserae, making the scene look like a painting! The originals were apparently too delicate to be moved, but the visitor is treated to an excellent photograph instead. It is worthwhile to take a very close look! 

The Egyptian goddess Isis clearly lives on into Roman times, often assimilated to Aphrodite. Two remarkable original frescos from the 1^st century AD found in Pompeii illustrate her importance (National Archaeological Museum of Naples). 

The exhibition ends with a huge photograph called The Flood of the Nile, found in Palestrina, north of Rome. It is one of the largest Hellenistic mosaics from the 1^st century BC that once adorned a floor of a building on the Forum. It is a bird’s eye view of Egypt with illustrations of its natural history. The top of the picture corresponds to the sources of the Nile in Ethiopia and Nubia, populated by wild animals with their names written in Greek. At the center, we see a succession of temples in Pharaonic and Graeco-Roman traditions. The bottom covers the busy Nile delta and harbor. The original mosaic is home to the National Archaeological Museum of Palestrina. It perfectly illustrates the excellent craftsmanship of Alexandrian artists working in Italy. 

Alexandria: Past Futures presents some 200 artifacts, which for the greater part come from lesser-known museums like that of Mariemont in Belgium, the Kassel Antikensammlung in Germany, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art of Geneva in Switzerland, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, the National Archaeological Museum of Palestrina in Italy, and several others.