The House of Ptolemy:
NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Today is

RECENT FOLLOW-UPS

• --- Signed Cleopatra? Papyrus Note Could Be Queen’s Handwriting, Says Museum
  (26 Oct 2000) abcnews.com (AssociatedPress report).
• --- 'Signed Cleopatra' -- Long Lost Manuscript Found
  (26 Oct 2000) Yahoonews.com (Reuters report).

The big news of the week, although ironically one wouldn't know it from the sparse coverage it received, is that a now-deceased scholar appears to have provided a reasonable theory about the location of the tomb of Alexander the Great . See

• Times of London: Scholar claims to find secret of Alexander's tomb
• foxnews.com story
  (This link works only for Netscape 4.0+ or IE5.0+)

EXPLORATOR notes 'big news', with the discovery by Goddio and his crew of what appears to be the submerged remains of the cities of Herakleion, Canopis, and Menouthis in Abukir Bay (most of the coverage comprises variations on AP and/or Reuters stories ... the Times of London coverage was a 'web special' and has photos etc.; BBC coverage is pretty good as well):

• Times of London http://www.the-times.co.uk/onlinespecials/world/egypt/ (includes link to many photos).
• BBC coverage http://news2.thls.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle%5Feast/newsid%5F775000/775558.stm
• Washington Post coverage http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20000603/aponline144910_000.htm
• CNN coverage http://cnn.com:80/2000/WORLD/meast/06/03/bc.egypt.lostcities.ap/index.html
• ABC News coverage http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/cities000603.html (Includes links to Realplayer video report).
• http://www.abc.net.au:80/news/newslink/weekly/newsnat-4jun2000-23.htm
• MSNBC News coverage http://www.msnbc.com:80/news/415945.asp?cp1=1
• Miami Herald coverage http://www.herald.com:80/content/today/digdocs/082760.htm
• http://news.excite.com/news/r/000603/15/science-egypt-archaeology

RECENT FOLLOW-UPS

• BBC News Online
• Four Ancient Greek Cities At Bottom Of Alexandria Sea
• MSNBC
• http://www.iht.com:80/IHT/TODAY/TUE/IN/cities.2.html
• The Sunday Times
• http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Africa/2000-06/frozen050600.shtml
• The Telegraph

EXPLORATOR notes that Egypt Revealed has some nice articles ...

• latest on the Ptolemaic port of Berenike
• latest on the Oriental Institute/University of Chicago's Demotic Dictionary project
  See http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/PROJ/DEM/Demotic.html for more information.

• National Geographic has a page with a number of items of interest, including an online feature with exclusive audio and video on the discovery the big Greco-Roman mummy find
  (among other things are: information on Tut's tomb, exclusive photos of Ballard's Phoenician ship find at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/index.html).
  Thanks again to the EXPLORATOR.
• September/October 1999 Archaeology Magazine. Among the articles of this edition of the magazine online is the full text of Zahi Hawass' piece on the tomb's discovery titled OASIS OF THE DEAD
• 26 Aug 1999. A transacript of the live chat of 26 Aug 1999 with Roger Bagnall is now available online at http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/mummyexpert082699_chat.html
• 18 Jun 1999 Discovery.com has a link on this page to a number of photos not seen elsewhere: http://www.discovery.com/indep/newsfeatures/mummy/story.html
• 28 Jun 1999 Archaeologists have discovered an early Greco-Roman burial ground in western Egypt believed to contain at least 10,000 mummies, the largest such find to date. The BBC has coverage (with a photo) of the discovery site including a RealPlayer audio report.
• 12 Jun 1999 report from Egypt Online: 200 Mummies, unearthed in Bahariya Oasis
  contains a short dispatch with several photos.

RECENT FOLLOW-UPS

• Mummies: Emissaries of the Golden Age (by Zahi Hawass) © 2000 Biblical Archaeology Society
  see also the feature on the cover
• Egypt Revealed
• Egypt Revealed
• London Sunday Times: Dig unearths man who would be king - by Michael Theodoulou In Nicosia
• BBCNEWS: Mayor's mummy found
• ABCNews.com: Tomb Fit for a Mayor (Reuters)
• Discovery Channel Canada: Archeologists uncover ancient Egyptian mayor's tomb
• Foxnews.com: Ancient Tomb Opened on Live TV

Here is some of the reportage which came on the heels of Fox's Opening of the Tombs special last week. You can find more info about this show at Fox's site. The Fox coverage includes some video, but not the whole two hour special. According to the publisher Harry N. Abrams, this TV show was planned 'live' to boost the sales of Dr. Hawass' upcoming book (due out September 2000) titled: The Valley of the Golden Mummies.

• Dr. Zahi Hawass Director of the Giza Pyramids and Saqqara describes the Discovery of the Valley of the Mummies at http://guardians.net/hawass/mummies.htm . Dr Hawass' main web page The Plateau is at http://guardians.net/hawass/

DIVING ON A SUNKEN CITY (by Jean-Yves Empereur)

Ancient Alexandria yields a wealth of pharaonic and Ptolemaic sculpture.

MAPPING ALEXANDRIA'S ROYAL QUARTERS (by Angela M.H. Schuster)

Includes a map of Alexandria's Eastern Harbor shows the submerged Royal Quarters.
(Gérard Schnepp, Courtesy IEASM)

Cleopatra's Palace: The Search for the Real Queen of the Nile

• --- Divers probe underwater palace
  (28 Oct 1998. BBC NEWS) Includes an image of a statue a priest of the goddess Isis and a link to a RealPlayer video report of the undersea finds.
• --- The Society for Underwater Exploration: Lost City Of Alexandria Unveiled
  The society has launched a Web site that chronicles the latest underwater discoveries in the ancient, Lost City of Alexandria. The launch of the site places special focus on revealing the latest discoveries involving Cleopatra's Palace in the lost city and the excavations of the wreckage of sunken ships from Napoleon Bonaparte's fleet in nearby Aboukir. (As reported at exn.ca, a presentation of the Discovery Channel Canada at URL http://www.exn.ca/html/templates/exntv-newsbytes.cfm?ID=19981102-06)
• --- Sphinx of Cleopatra's father emerges from waves
  (29 Oct 1998) In this story CNN has a (Reuters) piece on the 'Beautifully preserved and very rare' shipwreck discovered in Alexandria's once royal harbor. Includes an image of a sphinx who's face is said to represent Ptolemy XII.
• --- Raising the lost city of Cleopatra
  (28 Oct 1998) As seen at http://www.exn.ca , a presentation of the Discovery Channel Canada

(Report courtesy of EXPLORATOR: see http://web.idirect.com/~atrium). EXPLORATOR is an irregular newletter (posted every two-three days) representing the fruits of the labours of 'media research division' of The Atrium. Various on-line news and magazine sources are scoured on a daily basis for news of the ancient world. See Commentarium (for news articles) at http://web.idirect.com/~atrium/commentarium.html and The Rostra (for audio files) at http://web.idirect.com/~atrium/rostra.html

From: The Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition (HIPNT) and the Hellenic Institute of Ancient and Medieval Alexandrian Studies (HIAMAS)

The initial stage of the first joint survey of the Greek-Egyptian project of underwater archaeology began in Alexandria on May 5th and was completed today, May 28th 1998.

A total of 19 Greek and Egyptian scientists and divers specialised in various disciplines worked in close co-operation aiming to achieve a better understanding of the topography of the ancient Alexandria coast-line from Chatby to Sidi Gaber, a sea area known in antiquity as "The Sea of Eleusis".

An important number of remains, mainly rock-carved features in the shallows, were surveyed, measured and drawn, with the intention of producing a detailed survey plan of all the sunken littoral and interpreting activities in the area in ancient times.

Spot searches of deeper areas, 100 - 1100 m. from the shore were also carried out. In some instances concentrations of ancient pottery shards as well as twelve pierced stone-weights - possibly small anchors - were located. The finds were carefully recorded by drawing and photography, and their positions meticulously reported on the general grid of the area of the survey, with the use of a Total Station and other electronic devices.

The data collected from both the coastal and deep-water survey will be carefully studied and interpreted in relation to the historical background of the region. A preliminary report, followed by a scientific publication, will be made available to scientists in the field in the course of the next 12 months.

The continuation of the survey and future underwater excavations will be considered jointly by members of the two Greek Institutes co-operating in the project, with the approval of the Egyptian Department of Underwater Antiquities.

The organisation of the project is co-ordinated by the Director of the Egyptian Department of Underwater Antiquities, Dr. Ibrahim Darwish, archaeologist, and Harry Tzalas, historian-researcher of Alexandrian topography, President of the two co-operating institutes.

Dr. Nicholas Lianos, architect for the Greek Ministry of Culture, Dept. of Underwater Antiquities, is the Director of the research programme. The Greek team of archaeologists include: Chrissa Samios, Christos Agourides and Catherine Delaporte, of the Greek Ministry of Culture.

Their Egyptian counterparts are: Mohamed Mostafa, Taimour Ismail, Sameh Ramses.

The Greek team is comprised of:
Constantinos Kontos, architect and diver, Alexis Zoidis, Chief Diver, and Elias Papaioannou, diver, and Philippos Christodoulopoulos, diver, Panaghiota Papadopoulou, archaeologist. Tim Kamarianakis, a post-graduate student of Maritime Archaeology at Southampton Universtity also took an active part in some phases of the project.

The Technological Educational Institute (T.E.I.) of Athens - Department of Conservation, have included this project in their applied activities for Restoration. Two students of T.E.I.., D. Damianos and Ch. Melissinou, followed the progress of the work under the supervision of theirs professors E. Nombilakis and N. Lianos.

For additional information:
Alexandria: Dr. Ibrahim Darwish, Graeco-Roman Museum Tel: + 203 4825820
Athens: The Secretariat of the Hellenic Institute of Medieval and Ancient Alexandrian Studies, Tel : + 3 01 9514291

The organisers take this opportunity to gratefully acknowledge the sponsorship of the Hellenic Community of Alexandria, its President, Mr. Stefanos P. Tamvakis and its Executive Board, who provided accommodation and working facilities for the Greek members of the team.

We would also like to acknowledge the sponsorship of Mr. Andreas Potamianos, who provided air tickets for the Greek team, as well as Mr. George Vernicos, who made possible the equipment transportation from Greece to Egypt.

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Issued by the Hellenic Community of Alexandria (EKA) http://www.greece.org/alexandria and SAE Asia-Africa http://africa-asia.sae.gr in cooperation with the Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition and the Hellenic Institute of Ancient and Medieval Alexandrian Studies.

The Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition (HIPNT) and the Hellenic Institute of Ancient and Medieval Alexandrian Studies (HIAMAS), in co-operation with the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, are proud to announce that an underwater archaeological survey of the port of Alexandria will take place from 5-29 May 1998.

This is the first ever underwater archaeological investigation to be carried out by Greek scientists outside Greek waters and it is particularly significant that this should take place in Alexandria, a city deeply marked by Greek civilisation since Hellenistic times.

The expedition was made possible thanks to the sponsorship of the Hellenic Community of Alexandria, Potamianos S.A. and Vernikos S.A.

The members of the expedition are:
Dr. Nikolaos Lianos, Scientific Director, Diver,
Harry Tzalas, President of HIAMAS and HIPNT, Project Organiser,
Katerina Delaporta, Archaeologist, specialist in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies, Diver,
Chrisa Samios, Archaeologist, specialist in Classical and Hellenistic Period, Diver,
Christos Agourides, archaeologist, Specialist in Prehistoric Studies, Diver,
Constantinos Kontos, Architect, Diver,
Alexandros Zoides. Chief Diver, Underwater Photographer,
Elias Papaioannou, Professional Diver,
Philippos Christodoulopoulos, Professional Diver.

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Issued by the Hellenic Community of Alexandria (EKA) http://www.greece.org/alexandria and SAE Asia-Africa http://africa-asia.sae.gr in cooperation with the Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition and the Hellenic Institute of Ancient and Medieval Alexandrian Studies.

Since time immemorial, Alexandria, Egypt, has known an Hellenic presence - a presence which has had a profound effect upon the city, its life, its society, its history - an effect which can still be seen and felt today. The Hellenic Community of Alexandria (EKA) believes that this Hellenic presence should be preserved and that the cultural ties between Egypt and the Hellenes should be strengthened. To this end we have proposed that a School of Archaeological and Classical Studies bearing the name "Alexander the Great" be founded in Alexandria. For more information on the current status of this project or our other projects please visit our Hellenic Alexandria link -- a project in cooperation of HEC and EKA - The Hellenic Community of Alexandria

Just Published:

This is the companion to the Kellis Isocrates Codex, published earlier this month.

NOVA, PBS’ premier science series, launches its 24th season (fall 1997) with 10 hours of new documentaries that highlight a revolution in treating severe head injuries, a non-stop journey around the world in a balloon, a trip to the sunken city of Alexandria [ -- see description below -- ], an examination of avalanche control and much more. NOVA continues on PBS Tuesdays, beginning 2 Sep, and Wednesday 12 Nov 1997, 8pm ET.

Treasures of the Sunken City (first aired 18 Nov 1997)
Only a few bare traces remain of Alexandria, Egypt, the city that for centuries was the jewel of the Mediterranean and home of Cleopatra and Marc Anthony. Earthquakes turned the city to rubble; and, along with the Lighthouse of Alexandria — the tallest building of antiquity and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world — much of it sank into the sea. NOVA dives with the first expedition to thoroughly survey this watery graveyard of archaeological treasures, including a giant sphinx from 30 BC. The expedition is led by marine archaeologist Jean-Yves Empereur of the National Center for Scientific Research in Alexandria. Amazing underwater photography, combined with new techniques in computer graphics, reveal the ancient wonders of this lost city.

See the companion Book:

• --- Book: Alexandria The Sunken City
  by William La Riche, Stephane Compoint (Photographer)
  Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd; ISBN: 0297821806; Dimensions (in inches): 0.72 x 12.32 x 10.60
  
  This site provides information for ordering this book. The book Alexandria The Sunken City recounts the day by day story of this fabulous adventure, and is illustrated with the magnificant photographs of Stephane Compoint, the Sygma agency photographer who participated in the excavations. The book author William La Riche is winner of the Fullbright scholarship, and gained his degree in architecture at Princeton University. He then taught and lectured on art and architecture, while pursuing his career as writer, essayist and poet.
  
  
  Order This book from Amazon.com (It's much cheaper than direct from the publisher!)