Book contents page
Alexandria is located on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, bordered by Egypt’s Western Desert and the fertile Nile Delta. For many centuries, Alexandria was the major port city in the Eastern Mediterranean and it has been repeatedly struck by natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and land subsidence, in its ~2400-year history. This book focuses on the geomorphological and archaeological evidence on the coastal zone of Alexandria, attempting to provide a comprehensive review of its evolution, taking into consideration long-term and short-term factors.
The book provides an extensive background on the geomorphology and recent geoarchaeological history of Alexandria, discussing historical maps and natural disasters. In the coastal area of Alexandria there is numerous archaeological evidence, such as burial sites, quarry activities and ancient building remnants, as well as geomorphological features, all revealing a complex evolution of the coastal zone. New evidence, such as fish tanks and ship wrecks in order to discuss the Late Holocene evolution of the coastal zone. Detailed illustrations and maps accompany the book chapters providing the reader the opportunity to gain an extensive view of Alexandria’s features.
Cover 1
Title Page 3
Copyright Page 4
Contents Page 5
List of figures and tables 7
Acknowledgements 10
1. Introduction 15
1.1 Location and physical geography 15
1.2 Geological characteristics 19
1.3 Geomorphology 24
2. Subsidence regime 28
2.1 Bathymetry 28
2.2 Submerged ancient structures 30
3. Evidence of offshore subsidence in Alexandria 34
4. Paleogeography 43
5. Historical maps 47
Veduta d’Alessandria Codice Urbinate 277 [1472] 48
View of Alexandria from the Portolano of Piri Reis [1513] 50
Vray portraict de la Ville d’Alexandrie en Egypte [1547] 52
Plan M.P.nl-XLIX-43 of Alexandria from the Archivos General de Simancas [1605] 54
Alexandria, Vetustissimum Aegypti Emporium [1619] 56
View of Alexandria by Vassili Barkij [1730] 57
Description de la ville d’Alexandrie, telle qu’elle étoit du terms de Strabon, par M. Bonamy [1731] 60
Carte et Plan du Port Neuf d’Alexandrie by Capt. Frederick Lewis Norden [1738] and Carte particulière de la Vielle et de la nouvelle Alexandrie et de ses Ports [1738] 62
Carte générale des côtes, rades, ports, ville et environs d’Alexandrie dressée par M. Gratien le Père [1798] 67
Plan of the city harbors and environs of Alexandria, by Captain Smyth (1825) 68
Plan d’Alexandrie par Mahmoud Bey el Falaki [1866] 70
6. Historical references 76
7. The decline of Alexandria and physical disaster 80
Figure 1a: Site map of coastal Alexandria. 16
Figure 1b: Sites with valuable geomorphological and archaeological features in the
Alexandrian coastal zone. 18
Figure 2: Long-term average Holocene rates of subsidence along the Nile Delta based on stratigraphic analyses of radiocarbon-dated core data (after Stanley and Warne 1998). Sites: A: East Harbor, B: East Canopus, C: Herakleion, D: NW Burullus lagoon, E: S 21
Figure 3: The major fault zones of the wider Alexandria area (Zaghloul et al. 2001). 22
Figure 4: Bathymetric maps of the East Harbor of Alexandria, based on historical maps dating from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century AD. 29
Figure 5: Comparison of bathymetric profiles between Le Diamant–El Hassan, in 1833 and 1920, lead to the suggestion of subsidence in the sea floor of >1.5 m 30
Figure 6: Cumulative diagram of earthquakes and tsunamis occurring in Alexandria over the past 2000 years (Goiran 2001; Chalari 2007). 33
Figure 7: The map of the Codex Urbinate 277 (1472),
depicting the present 12 reefs as protruding features. 35
Figure 8: Le Diamant, depicted above sea level (Panchoucke 1821-9). 36
Figure 9: Age calibration provided an age of 1735–1806 AD (95.4% probability) for the timber sample dated by the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit. 38
Figure 10: Age calibration provided an age of 1719–1780 AD (95.4% probability) for the same sample dated using the Klaus-Tschira-Labor für Physikalische Altersbestimmung, Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archaeometrie gGmbH, Mannheim, Germany, in cooperation with t 38
Figure 11: A piece of timber from a wrecked ship found at El Hassan reef at a depth of 10 m. 39
Figure 12: Sketch of the ship, impact location, and a detailed design of the ship’s bottom. 41
Figure 13: Veduta d’Alessandria, Codice Urbinate 277, 1472 (Jondet, Pl. I). 49
Figure 14: Jean-Louis Bacque-Grammont, Michel Turchscherer, Piri Reis – Evliya Celebi, Deux regards ottomans sur Alexandrie, Centre d’Etudes Alexandrines, Alexandria 2013. 51
Figure 16: Harry E. Tzalas, The two ports of Alexandria, Plans and maps from the 14th century to the time of Mohamed Ali, Underwater archaeology and coastal management, Focus on Alexandria: 21–22. UNESCO Publishing, Paris, 2000. 55
Figure 17: Alexandria, Vetustissimum Aegypti Emporium, 1619. 58
Figure 18: The wanderings of Vassili Grigorovich-Barskii to the Holy Places of the East from 1723 to 1747. Published by the Orthodox Palestine Society after a genuine manuscript prepared by Nikolai Barsukov, St Petersburg 1886–1887; see also Τόπος και Εικ 59
Figure 19: M. de Bonamy, Mémoire, Description de la ville d’Alexandrie, telle qu’elle étoit du tems de Strabon, Paris, 31.8.1731. 61
Figure 22: Frederick Lewis Norden, Travels in Egypt and Nubia, London 1757; Jondet, Pl. XII.; Konstantin, Ancient Alexandria, Description of the town during the visit of Archimandrite Konstantin, published in Moscow (1803) ‘at the expense of the well-know 64
Figure 20: Carte et Plan du Port Neuf d’Alexandrie by Capt. Frederick Lewis Norden [1738] and Carte particuliere de la Vielle et de la nouvelle Alexandrie et de ses Ports [1738]. 64
Figure 21: Konstantin of Kiev, Θέα του λιμένος της Αλεξανδρείας, 1795. 65
Figure 22: Frederick Lewis Norden, Travels in Egypt and Nubia, London 1757; Jondet, Pl. XII.; Konstantin, Ancient Alexandria, Description of the town during the visit of Archimandrite Konstantin, published in Moscow (1803) ‘at the expense of the well-know 66
Figure 23: Jondet, Pl. XVII. There are two other maps of Alexandria and its wider area created by the Bonaparte Expedition: Carte des Cheneaux d’Accès au Port d’Alexandrie, 1798, Jondet Pl. XIX and Carte d’Alexandrie et de ses environs d’Agamy à Aboukir, 69
Figure 24: Plan of the city harbors and environs of Alexandria, by Captain Smyth (1825). [ 71
Figure 25: Mahmoud Bey, Mémoire sur l’Antique Alexandrie ses faubourgs et environs, Copenhague, 1872. 72
Figure 26: Alexandrie ancienne par Neroutsos Bey (1888) 75
Figure 27: Map of the East Harbor of Alexandria showing archaeological sites (based on Goddio et al. 1998). 77
Figure 28: Plots of the wave height in relation to time that would be observed a) in the area of Pharos, and b) off the coast of Alexandria. 89
Back Cover 145
Alexandria,Egypt,geophysical phenomena in Alexadria,earthquake in Alexandria,tsunami in Alexandria,ancient Alexandria,Egyptian climate in history
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