Discovering the Heracleion's Lost City: Meeting Myth Beneath the Waves

Almost 1,200 years ago, the Mediterranean Sea engulfed the city of Heracleion off the coast of Egypt. Before it sank more than a thousand years ago, it was one of the most significant commercial hubs in the Mediterranean. Like the way the modern world sees the city of Atlantis, Heracleion was long thought to be a myth. But after doing significant underwater investigation in the present-day Aboukir Bay, underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio eventually located the submerged city in 2000.

Heracleion had been reduced to only a few inscriptions and sentences in old texts by authors like Strabo and Diodorus before this recent discovery. When the mythical hero Heracles (also known as Herakles) first stepped foot in Egypt, a massive temple was built there, according to the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC). He also asserted that Paris and Helen of Troy paid the place a visit prior to the legendary Trojan War. The Greek explorer Strabo observed that the city of Heracleion was situated east of Canopus at the mouth of the River Nile, four centuries after Herodotus had traveled to Egypt.

The Seeker of Lost Cities Discovers Heracleion by Franck Goddio

A "pioneer of modern maritime archaeology," Franck Goddio is a well-known underwater archaeologist. In order to discover and study underwater archaeological sites, Goddio established the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) in 1987. On underwater archaeological sites, IEASM is renowned for having established a methodical methodology using geophysical prospecting methods. The crew can find anomalies on the sea floor by moving over the region in parallel straight lines at regular intervals. These anomalies can then be investigated by divers or robots.

In order to locate Canopus, Thonis, and Heracleion—all of which were thought to have been submerged beneath the Mediterranean Sea—IEASM started mapping the area around the port of Alexandria in 1992. In 1996, they expanded their research to include Aboukir Bay at the request of the Egyptian government. They were able to comprehend the topography and conditions that led to the area's gradual submersion thanks to this investigation. The group identified the areas of primary interest using data from historical documents. Aboukir Bay's survey covered a field of study that was 11 by 15 kilometers (6.8 x 9.3 miles).

The mapping of the Aboukir Bay began in 1996 and took a long time. They made the discoveries of Canopus in 1999 and Heracleion in 2000. The remains of the old city are covered with sediment, which explains why the location of the buried city of Heracleion remained concealed in the Bay of Aboukir for so long. Sand and silt that have been deposited when the River Nile exits are what make up the top layer of the ocean floor. By using precise magnetic maps, the IEASM team was able to find remnants, which gave the proof required to finally identify Heracleion's location.

Discovering Heracleion: A Submerged Lost City?

Heracleion, now submerged under the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, was once situated 32 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of Alexandria in ancient Egypt at the mouth of the River Nile. The huge metropolis served as both a major port for trade with Greece and a place of worship where sailors would offer gifts to the gods. Politically, the city was important because pharaohs needed to go to the Amun Temple in order to become the supreme ruler.

The ancient sunken city of Heracleion was discovered 10 meters (32.8 feet) below the surface and 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) from the present-day coastline in the western part of Aboukir Bay. Using cutting-edge technology and in cooperation with the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, IEASM was able to locate, map, and excavate the site.

Divers discovered the remarkably well-preserved city, with many of its riches remaining in tact after scraping away layers of sand and muck. They included the major Amun-Gerb temple, enormous pharaoh sculptures, several lesser statues of gods and goddesses, a sphinx, 64 ancient shipwrecks, 700 anchors, stone blocks with Greek and ancient Egyptian inscriptions, dozens of sarcophagi, gold coins, and bronze and stone weights.

Heracleion's Remains: Relics of a Lost Planet

The underwater archaeologists found a massive statue of Hapi, the god responsible for the Nile's inundation, that stood 5.4 meters (17.7 feet) tall among the ruins of the once-great metropolis. This was one of three enormous red granite statues from the fourth century BC that were found. A prehistoric stele with intricate and easily visible writing that was originally commissioned by Nectanebo I sometime between 378 and 362 BC was also found by the researchers in 2001.

Because Thonis was the name originally given to the city by the Egyptians while Heracleion was given by the ancient Greeks, it was possible for archaeologists to deduce from the writings on this old stele that Thonis and Heracleion were one and the same ancient city. The ancient city's name was changed to Thonis-Heracleion at that point.

Many statues and buildings that once stood tall and majestic in the great city may be seen in the breathtaking photos taken throughout the finding and recovery operation. In one image, a statue of a Ptolemaic queen made in Greco-Egypt stands eerily on the ocean floor, surrounded only by silt and darkness, while in another, the visage of a famous Pharaoh can be seen peeking up out of the sand.

Franck Goddio stated that the goal of the IEASM underwater excavations was "to learn as much as we can by touching as little as we can and leaving it for future technology" in an interview with the BBC in 2015. Around 2% of the site had been excavated at that time. The same clay deposit from the Nile that has long concealed the ancient city also shields the relics on the ocean floor from salt water.

IEASM takes great care to restore and preserve artifacts that are taken from their secret underwater refuge on board their ships and in laboratories. This process has taken days in some cases, while it took two and a half years to complete the massive Hapi monument, for example.

Knowing the causes of cities sinking into the sea

The metropolis, which was built on the Nile Delta, was considered to be breathtakingly beautiful and was crisscrossed by a massive network of canals. Heracleion, known as the Venice of the Nile, once held the title of the greatest harbor in the Mediterranean. The city apparently gradually lost importance as it disappeared under the water around the second half of the eighth century AD, according to excavations at the site. This raises the issue of why such an important city was destroyed.

A number of geological phenomena and cataclysmic occurrences are the causes. Geological studies conducted by the IEASM in collaboration with other institutions have revealed that the slow subsistence, the rise in sea levels, and regional phenomena related to the composition of the soil in the region all had an impact on the southeastern Mediterranean basin, creating the conditions for cities like Heracleion to sink into the sea.

Egypt's Lost Worlds exhibits

The Egyptian government, which owns the artifacts, granted IEASM permission in 2005 to organize a traveling display of the finds. Egypt's Sunken Treasures, the exhibition that resulted, traveled to significant cities in Germany, Spain, Italy, and Japan. A record 7,500 people each day, on average, visited the show at the Grand Palais in France.

The British Museum and Franck Goddio collaborated to organize the first underwater archaeological exhibition in 2015, which featured over 200 objects found between 1996 and 2012 by the IEASM off the coast of Egypt. At that point, according to Goddio, they had only discovered 5% of the 3.5 sq. km.-sized ancient metropolis of Heracleion (1.35 miles).

Goddio reportedly said that while "this would be a tremendous project on land, it's a task that will take hundreds of years under the sea and beneath the silt," according to The Art Newspaper. Heracleion is around three times the size of Pompeii, a catastrophic site that archaeologists have been excavating for more than a century, so you can get an idea of the scope of this undertaking.

The Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost Worlds exhibition at the British Museum was also shown in 2015 at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and the Saint Louis Art Museum in the United States. Before the items were sent back to Egypt in January 2021, they made their final stop at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

The discovery of Heracleion prompts critical inquiries concerning the veracity of purported "mythical towns." Who knows what other mythical sunken cities from the past will be discovered in the future if a city that was previously thought to be mythical can be found in the depths of the sea? Time will only tell.

Who destroyed the Library of Alexandria?

By Historical Eve

The Library of Alexandria was the cultural center which revolved the intellectual life of Hellenism. This institution gathered the largest collection of writings to date, as well as a large number of research instruments and documents from the ancient world.

In this way, the most important researchers of any subject should go to this place to deepen their studies and refine their knowledge.

It is, by all accounts, one of the greatest monuments to knowledge, whose splendor has impressed all civilizations throughout the ages.

The Library of Alexandria stands as one of the most important institutions created by the human being, due to its extraordinary congregation of wisdom.

In addition, the chronicle of the Library is a tour of the most decisive episodes in the history of this period that involves the most prominent political forces, empires and cultures of the moment.

Both the Library and the Museum of Alexandria had its heyday in the period run by the Ptolemaic dynasty

Royal District The Alexandria of Cleopatra

The creation of these institutions are due to the reign of the Ptolemies, which promoted such institutions dedicated to knowledge due to the interest to recognize their tradition and legitimacy in the Hellenic culture.

What was intended was to legitimize their political power with a cultural authority.

This led to the spread of culture, which was added to the large number of resources that kept and the attendance of prominent personalities in history, poetry, philosophy, philology, medicine and science of the time.

With the death of Cleopatra, the last queen of the Ptolemaic dynasty, the decline of the Library and the Museum began.

This process lasted until the fourth century AD. On the one hand, the deterioration was accentuated due to the political circumstances that took place in a city that no longer enjoyed the position of capital of the central State or independence.

On the other hand, after the annexation of Egypt to the Roman Empire by the Emperor Augustus, the library remained so many years because it still maintained the prestige of past times and was admired by the Romans as a remarkable monument.

Hipólito Escolar in his work “The Library of Alexandria” describes the episode in which the Library caught fire during the War of Alexandria in which Caesar burned his own ships of the port so that the Egyptians commanded by Aquilas could not seize them and use them in their favor.

This event may be true, it is plausible since the fire could be extended to land, but there is no conclusive data.

It is necessary to mention that in the work “Civil War” Julius Caesar does not allude to the fire of the Library, but to the burning of the boats.

Also, Horace in “The War of Alexandria” does not mention the burning of the books either, indeed, Horace speaks of the incombustibility of the stone buildings of the city. The burning of the boats of the port did not burn the Library.

It is Seneca in De Tranquillitate Animi (On the tranquility of the mind) who says that “forty thousand books burned in Alexandria” as a result of the war action.

It should be noted that Cicero, Strabo and Lucano mention nothing of the burning of books.

Subsequently, Plutarch in “Life of Caesar” declares that the fire spread from the boats to the Library.

Other authors who speak of the fire are Aulus Gellius, Dio Cassius and Ammianus Marcellinus, but with different versions.

The legend of the books burned in the War of Alexandria seems to be due to the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty, since the destruction of an institution so related to it represents the situation of its end.

Escolar assures that the fire did not affect the buildings of the Library and not even the books. In any case, some rolls deposited in the port were burned.

What is certain is that the end of the Hellenistic period meant a crisis for the Library and the Museum in keeping with the sociopolitical vicissitudes.

However, these institutions overcame the circumstances recovering such an outstanding activity as the previous one.

At that time, the emperors took the place of protectors and promoters of these emblematic venues, highlighting the help of the Emperor Hadrian. However, the economic support was decreasing with time.

The Library of Alexandria was losing its cultural centrality, and it deteriorated little by little because of various incidents that respond to the political conjunctures that followed one another.

What happened to the great library of Alexandria?

Among the innumerable events that could affect it, the following stand out:

1- In the 2nd century Trajan violently suppressed a Jewish revolt against him.

2- In the second half of the third century there were struggles aggravated by political and military problems of the emperors and a bad economic circumstance.

3- In the year 265 of Mussius Aemilianus, prefect of Egypt, he proclaimed himself emperor and stopped transporting provisions to Rome.

Consequently, Emperor Gallienus seized the city by force. The violence used caused damage to it.

4- In the year 272 AD Alexandria was devastated, especially the main neighborhood, the one where the Library was located, by the forces of Valerian when recovering Alexandria from the Palmyrene Empire.

5- In the year 297 AD Diocletian, after an eight-month siege, returned to conquer the city that was in rebellion.

This incident supposed, according to Escolar, the great destruction of the main neighborhood that severely damaged the Library.

6- In the fourth century Constantine moved the capital to Byzantium and the Edict of Milan (313 AD) legalized Christianity, which was extended.

Constantinople acquired cultural hegemony and overshadowed the old Alexandria whose monuments were far from the beliefs of its inhabitants.

7- In this same century, after the expansion of Christianity by the Egyptian people, grew a national feeling (with a language of its own: the Coptic) that faced the pagan and the Greek, for them symbols of repressive power.

8- Between the years 375-395 Theodosius governed the empire and, by the Edict of Thessalonica (380 AD), the Nicene Christianity (opposed to Arianism) was elevated like official religion of the empire.

9- In the year 391, after prolonged tension and constant disturbances between Christians and pagans, Patriarch Theophilus acquired from the emperor an authorization for the destruction of the Serapeum, the great temple of the Ptolemaic dynasty.

10- Some people maintain, not without controversy, that the Library lasted until the conquest by the Muslims, who in the year 641 invaded Alexandria.

On the other hand, there are also those who affirm that at that time the Library no longer existed, since it was previously destroyed by military strife and religious fanaticism.

It is more than improbable that the library survived until the Muslim conquest and that, consequently, the supposed destruction on the part of the Muslims is no more than a legend.

It has not yet been possible to give a conclusive answer to what really happened with the Library of Alexandria.

The Scientific Explanation of the 'Pharaoh's Curse'

100-year-old folklore and pop culture have perpetuated the myth that opening a mummy's tomb leads to certain death.

Movie mummies are known for two things: fabulous riches and a nasty curse that brings treasure hunters to a bad end. But Hollywood didn't invent the curse concept.

The "mummy's curse" first enjoyed worldwide acclaim after the 1922 discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, Egypt.

When Howard Carter opened a small hole to peer inside the tomb at treasures hidden for 3,000 years, he also unleashed a global passion for ancient Egypt.

Tut's glittering treasures made great headlines—especially following the opening of the burial chamber on February 16, 1923—and so did sensationalistic accounts of the subsequent death of expedition sponsor Lord Carnarvon.

In reality, Carnarvon died of blood poisoning, and only six of the 26 people present when the tomb was opened died within a decade. Carter, surely any curse's prime target, lived until 1939, almost 20 years after the tomb's opening.

But while the pharaoh's curse may lack bite, it hasn't lost the ability to fascinate audiences—which may be how it originated in the first place.

Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon at the door of the burial chamber. Photo by Harry Burton (1879-1940)

Birth of the Curse

The late Egyptologist Dominic Montserrat conducted a comprehensive search and concluded that the concept began with a strange "striptease" in 19th-century London.

"My work shows quite clearly that the mummy's curse concept predates Carnarvon's Tutankhamen discovery and his death by a hundred years," Montserrat told the Independent (U.K.) in an interview some years before his own death.

Montserrat believed that a lively stage show in which real Egyptian mummies were unwrapped inspired first one writer, and subsequently several others, to pen tales of mummy revenge.

The thread was even picked up by Little Women author Louisa May Alcott in her nearly unknown volume Lost in a Pyramid; or, The Mummy's Curse.

"My research has not only confirmed that there is, of course, no ancient Egyptian origin of the mummy's curse concept, but, more importantly, it also reveals that it didn't originate in the 1923 press publicity about the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb either," Montserrat stressed to the Independent.

But Salima Ikram, an Egyptologist at the American University in Cairo and a National Geographic Society grantee, believes the curse concept did exist in ancient Egypt as part of a primitive security system.

She notes that some mastaba (early non-pyramid tomb) walls in Giza and Saqqara were actually inscribed with "curses" meant to terrify those who would desecrate or rob the royal resting place.

"They tend to threaten desecrators with divine retribution by the council of the gods," Ikram said. "Or a death by crocodiles, or lions, or scorpions, or snakes."

Tomb Toxin Threat?

In recent years, some have suggested that the pharaoh's curse was biological in nature.

Could sealed tombs house pathogens that can be dangerous or even deadly to those who open them after thousands of years—especially people like Lord Carnarvon with weakened immune systems?

The mausoleums house not only the dead bodies of humans and animals but foods to provision them for the afterlife.

Lab studies have shown some ancient mummies carried mold, including Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus, which can cause congestion or bleeding in the lungs. Lung-assaulting bacteria such as Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus may also grow on tomb walls.

These substances may make tombs sound dangerous, but scientists seem to agree that they are not.

F. DeWolfe Miller, professor of epidemiology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, concurs with Howard Carter's original opinion: Given the local conditions, Lord Carnarvon was probably safer inside Tut's tomb than outside.

"Upper Egypt in the 1920s was hardly what you'd call sanitary," Miller said. "The idea that an underground tomb, after 3,000 years, would have some kind of bizarre microorganism in it that's going to kill somebody six weeks later and make it look exactly like [blood poisoning] is very hard to believe."

In fact, Miller said, he knows of no archaeologist—or a single tourist, for that matter—who has experienced any afflictions caused by tomb toxins.

But like the movie mummies who invoke the malediction, the legend of the mummy's curse seems destined never to die.

BY BRIAN HANDWERK, National Geographic

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history...

British Museum Returns Looted Ancient Greek Statue to Libya

After a long legal battle, London’s British Museum returned last week a looted ancient Greek statue of the goddess Persephone to Libya which is estimated to be worth £1.5m ($2.1m).

British Museum finally returns looted ancient statue. Credit: Facebook/British Museum

British Museum finally returns looted ancient statue. Credit: Facebook/British Museum

According to a statement by the Libyan Foreign Ministry the recovery of Persephone statue took place at the headquarters of the Libyan Embassy in London, with a handover minute signed by the Libyan Acting Charge D’affairs and the spokesperson of the British Museum Peter Higgs.

The ancient Greek statue was taken from a world heritage site in Shahhat in 2012. The British Museum helped to identify and return the statue, as part of its efforts to combat illicit trade coming into the UK for potential sale, a spokesperson told Greek Reporter.

The piece was illegally excavated from a grave in the ruins of Cyrene, an important Hellenic city located in the north of what is now Libya, and then subsequently smuggled into the United Kingdom.

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The four-foot marble relic is of a hooded woman believed to be a representation of the queen of the underworld, Persephone.

The statue dates from the third or fourth century BC, and Dr Peter Higgs, a curator of Greek sculpture at the British Museum, described it as “one of the best examples of its type and … extremely rare”.

A 2015 ruling ruled that the statue, which was in the possession of Jordanian national Riad al-Qassas, had been “misdeclared” on arrival to the UK as border officials believed it was worth £72,000 and originally Turkish.

The artefact was discovered in a west London warehouse by customs officials, before being handed to the British Museum as the court ruled on its ownership.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Cyrene was an important ancient Greek city

Cyrene, the ancient Greek and later Roman city near present-day Shahhat, Libya, was the oldest and most important of all five Greek cities in the region.

It gave eastern Libya the classical name of Cyrenaica that it has retained into modern times. Located nearby is the ancient Necropolis of Cyrene.

More than two thousand years ago, a group of Greeks from the island of Thira (also known as Santorini) headed south, searching for a new place to live. Their journey ended in the northern part of Africa, in modern-day Libya.

These Greek settlers established a new city, calling it Cyrene, which became prosperous and had trade ties with every Greek city in what is now the modern Greek mainland and islands.

It was one of the principal cities in the ancient Greek world, with its temples, tombs, agora, gymnasium and Cyrene Amphitheatre all thought to be inspired by the historic structures at Delphi.

The city became a Republic in 460 BC, following the political tradition that Athens had established.

Cyrene contributed to the intellectual life of the ancient Greek world through its renowned philosophers and mathematicians.

Cyrene’s ruins remain there as a reminder of the region’s rich past, which was shaped by Greeks and Romans alike.

Included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982, Cyrene today ranks among the List’s most neglected and endangered sites in the Mediterranean Basin, due to improper restoration and extensive looting of its Greek artifacts.

By Tasos Kokkinidis, Greek Reporter

Three Egyptologists Use Assassin's Creed Origins To Teach History

Assassin’s Creed Origins’ rendition of Ptolemaic Egypt is one of the most accurate interactive representations of the period, so much so that Egyptologist Dr. Chris Naunton referred to it as “the best visualization of ancient Egypt.” Naunton’s remark came during the first episode of “Playing in the Past” a six-part series dedicated to looking at Egyptian history through the lens of Assassin’s Creed Origins. The series is broadcast on Twitch, where Naunton was joined by a PhD student at Southampton University, Gemma Renshaw, and associate professor of history at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Dr. Kate Sheppard.

The Giza Pyramid Complex, also called the Giza Necropolis, the site on the Giza Plateau.

The Giza Pyramid Complex, also called the Giza Necropolis, the site on the Giza Plateau.

Together, the three Egyptologists took viewers through a tour of Thebes. Naunton began by comparing photos from his travels to vistas in the game before taking up the reins himself and moving throughout the world on his own.

The world of Assassin’s Creed Origins was already the focus of the post-launch Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed – Ancient Egypt, which turns Ptolemaic Egypt into a living museum complete with guided tours. To find out what experts in the field think about Origins’ depiction of Egypt and why they decided to livestream their lectures, we spoke with Renshaw, Sheppard, and Naunton.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria and a panoramic view of the Hellenistic city.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria and a panoramic view of the Hellenistic city.

  • Where did the idea for “Playing in the Past” come from? What made you want to stream it to the public?

Chris Naunton: Last summer, I was writing a book for children about Cleopatra, which is going to be called “Cleopatra Tells All,” and I was at the stage where I needed to give the illustrator ideas for what I specifically wanted Alexandria to look like. I wanted to be able to send him stuff saying, “Look, this is what it looked like.”

So I was Googling for images of visualizations of Alexandria, and I knew that there was a guy called Jean-Claude Golvin, a French artist who had painted a load of reconstruction drawings of various places in the ancient world, including in Egypt and Alexandria, but I wasn't finding them. What I was finding were all these things from this videogame called Assassin's Creed Origins.

I kept asking, “What’s this?” “How can I get this?” So eventually I just posted something on Twitter saying, “Look, can somebody tell me how I can get this game?”, because at this point I've discovered there's such a thing as a Discovery Tour, so I don't even have to be able to play the game, I can just walk around.

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I can tell it looks amazing, and eventually Gemma just responds – we know each other from Twitter and various other things over the years – and she says, “I've got it, I could show you around if you like.”

At the same time, Kate and I were doing our own podcast together, which was a kind of virtual trip up the Nile from the perspective of historic travelers, Europeans mostly. So when Gemma had offered to show me around, Kate wanted to join in too.

Kate Sheppard: When Gemma responded, I just sort of virtually elbowed my way in, and we all sort of met, and Chris and I were just asking her to show us around all of these places.

Gemma Renshaw: I put it on my Twitch channel. I had never streamed before, but thankfully, I had some assistance from a kind friend of mine. I got it working on Twitch, and then I just streamed it for a bit so that they could see it, and then we could go and look at stuff together, and we sort of talked about things on Twitter. At that point, other people started to show interest.

At first, I just wanted to let Chris look at what he wanted to look at for his book. But there was enough interest from people that I thought, “Why don't we just do another one and invite everyone?” So we did it in September last year, and it wasn't quite the same format that we're doing “Playing in the Past” now.

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Deir el Medina tombs.

Deir el Medina tombs.

  • How familiar were you with videogames before all of this?

CN: I had a Sega Master System II in the early ‘90s, but that was pretty much the last time I played a videogame, and I just thought this was not for me. I bought an Xbox in the middle of all of this because I was so taken with this whole idea, and I wasn't even sure if I would be able to work the controller, but I still thought, “I want to be able to explore this myself.” Once I'd run around a little bit, I just thought, “this is amazing.”

  • At what point did you decide to make this a formal series?

GR: After we did the September run, we decided that we would apply to Southampton University to see if they would give us any funding. And they did! That’s when we called it “Playing in the Past” and really ironed out the idea. Funding means that we can pay other experts to come and be a part of it.

In archaeology, we try to get people to imagine what monuments were like when they don’t exist anymore, but a lot of people can’t do that. Same for things that exist only as ideas or beliefs. Having the opportunity to do things like go into the underworld and show people an interpretation is really useful.

Graphic Reconstruction of the ancient egyptian pyramids in Asassin’s Creed Origins.

Graphic Reconstruction of the ancient egyptian pyramids in Asassin’s Creed Origins.

On one of my streams, I had a long conversation with someone in chat, and one of the things they said was, “I had no idea that academics liked games.” And I said, “Some of them might not, but some do, and there’s no reason why we can’t connect the two things.” We’ve proven that it can work, and work well.

CN: I’m freelance, so I’m used to there not being much money involved, but I hadn't realized how pleased I was going to be and how cool it would be to be able to say, “This is now a university-funded project.” It’s not just three people who like archaeology and games; people have to recognize now that this is a real thing.

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Map of ancient Egypt as shown in Ubisoft’s game.

Map of ancient Egypt as shown in Ubisoft’s game.

I'm really proud of it, and being able to visit these places which are so well depicted – I just thought, if I like it, I'm sure there's going to be a lot of people out there that will want to do this too. I think that's been borne out in the numbers we've been getting, and the enthusiasm we've been getting for this, too.

KS: Chris and Gemma are much more public-facing than I am with my students, who are generally 18 to 22 years old. Here at my university, we have a nationally ranked esports team, so many of my students are very into videogames. They love them, and so when we're doing history of science, I was talking about eugenics, and I had loads of students asking if I had ever played Bioshock.

‘Bayek’ approaching the massive temple gates of Memphis in Assassin's Creed Origins.

‘Bayek’ approaching the massive temple gates of Memphis in Assassin's Creed Origins.

That’s when I started thinking I really need to get into some of these videogames, because they keep telling me about them, and this is a way I can connect with them. If we get into that mode of “here's how we can connect to people,” then maybe we can at least bring in new people who might be interested. If we as scholars aren't talking to the general public, and we're just talking to this tiny little bubble of people, what's even the point?

  • Gemma, you’re a fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Did it help you get interested in history at all?

GR: Yeah! I think I relate quite well to the people who are going to watch the stream, because they can ask me questions about Egypt and history, or they can be about the game, and I might know the answer to that too.

I loved not only the stories, but the database entries that were included going way back to Assassin’s Creed II. I really appreciated how they tried to include history and weave the story around the history in a way that was believable. I think it certainly made me want to find out more about the actual history that was behind it. I have to confess that I didn't really know anything about the Medici family until I played Assassin's Creed II, and then I wanted to learn about them.

Alexander The Great's Tomb in Alexandria with his body embalmed in a coffin filled with honey.

Alexander The Great's Tomb in Alexandria with his body embalmed in a coffin filled with honey.

When Assassin's Creed Origins first came out, I didn't play it immediately, but I bought it for myself for Christmas one year, and then played it so much for about two weeks that I didn’t even speak to my roommate.

  • How does it feel to virtually explore a real-life location that you know so well?

KS: I think the only bad thing is that it really makes me want to be there. The thing that makes me emotional about it and love it so much are the little details. You look down at the ground, and the stones look the same as they do in real life, and you can imagine yourself being there.

You can almost feel the sun on you, and you can sort of smell it. You just kind of breathe it in, and it's just like, “Ah, OK, I'm back, I'm here” and you can almost get that when you're playing the game, and that's what I love about it.

An artist rendering of life on the Nile river in Assassin's Creed Origins.

An artist rendering of life on the Nile river in Assassin's Creed Origins.

CN: I think something we worry about is the level of representation, because there are so many movies that are so inaccurate and misleading. People always assume I love those kinds of movies, but I can barely watch them. Going into Origins, I had already seen enough photos to know that it was going to be great.

I had gamer friends who would say “There's this new game coming out. It's called Assassin's Creed Origins. You'd love it,” and I was like, “Yeah, sure, I don’t really do games.” I think that’s probably how most academics would think about it initially, but now I’m committed. It’s made me a gamer in a way; when I’m not in Ancient Egypt, I'm on the forest moon of Endor!

The real jaw-dropping moment for me was running up to the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri, which is the same, minus any of the modern clutter that's there today. They took out the ticket office and the tarmac, but it’s all the same. It does make you want to be there, but I almost want to say it’s a little bit better.

I also want to say that the representation doesn't need to be that good. I'm just running around like a sort of maniac, just running up hills and things and looking down on temples, and there's so much detail in there, I can't believe how amazing it is. We went hours over our planned stream time for our first stream because I just kept wanting to wander.

‘Bayek’ approaching The Great Temple of Ramesses II in Abu Simbel.

‘Bayek’ approaching The Great Temple of Ramesses II in Abu Simbel.

  • Chris, you mentioned the Temple of Hatshepsut. Is there anything in particular that really impressed you with regard to the historical representation?

CN: For me, it’s the fact that it is very specifically this particular moment at the end of the Ptolemaic period, which is a very interesting time in terms of what Egypt would have looked like. You have the broken paving stones in Alexandria, and it would have just been easier to put in new paving stones, wouldn't it? That sort of level of detail is amazing.

Then you have the monuments, [some of] which are recognizable in a kind of half-state of decay, and others a bit better maintained. There are the brand-new sort of late-Ptolemaic Roman-influenced buildings coming up, and then the people who are clearly foreigners, as well as that mixture of a more traditional Egyptians. You also have a newer kind of Hellenistic Egypt, or even just purely foreign Greek influence. I mean, the ambition to do that is really super-impressive.

‘Bayek’ and his eagle approaching The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, also known as the Djeser-Djeseru (Ancient Egyptian: "Holy of Holies").

‘Bayek’ and his eagle approaching The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, also known as the Djeser-Djeseru (Ancient Egyptian: "Holy of Holies").

KS: In one of our later streams, we’re looking at ancient crafts. We’re having an expert, Dr. Sarah K. Doherty, come on for it, but we were just chatting with her, and she was talking about how usually, if you see a bread maker, there's going to be a beer maker right nearby because of the yeast. They use similar ingredients, and so they would share, and it would be easier for them both. Then we were in game and walking by a bakery, and, wouldn’t you know, right next to it is a brewery. That part, to me, really stuck out.

GR: One of the things I’m impressed with in all Assassin’s Creed games is the quality of the light. It's really clear that people at Ubisoft have visited all of these places and made an effort to make the places feel different and close to real life. The light in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is so different from the light in Origins, as it should be.

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  • Your first stream focused on Thebes, an area not available as part of Discovery Tour. Have you used Discovery Tour at all? What are your thoughts on it?

GR: We actually tried to do that in our stream back in September. We tried to take the Step Pyramid tour, but the problem with us doing it that way was that we kind of wanted to talk when the game was talking, so it ended up being a bit difficult. I did let all the people watching the stream know about it so they could do it on their own.

CN: I think Discovery Tour is great, but it was slightly tricky to do it live. To some extent, it's sort of duplicating the kinds of things we could offer in the livestream anyway. I would recommend it to people though, and I loved the pop-ups that would show the genuine real objects which are described in the tours that you can read more about. As if proof were needed that the game is based on good solid research, it's right there.

Thebes city overall silhouette, by Martin Bonev (full representation here).

Thebes city overall silhouette, by Martin Bonev (full representation here).

I was exploring the west bank in Thebes on our stream, and everything is where it should be. If you're familiar with that part of the world [like I am], you don't need to be told where things are, because they're where they should be.

When I watched the stream, I noticed that you almost never brought up the map for navigation purposes. Were you able to just find your way around because you knew were everything was?

CN: Well, I mean, to some extent, yeah. The landscape is as it should be. The roads and hills, and even the topography is more or less accurate. I didn't need a map to find where things were, because they’re all in the right place.

Temple of Luxor by night, by Martin Bonev (full representation here).

Temple of Luxor by night, by Martin Bonev (full representation here).

  • One last question for you all. Obviously, you're all Egyptologists, but since Assassin’s Creed has already been to Egypt, is there another setting you’d like to see it explore?

GR: I have a few. I'm going to say Kingdom of Mali around 13th-16th century AD, Silk Road Mongolia around 12th-13th century AD, or the Khmer Empire, ideally set in around 12th 13th century AD, when Angkor Wat was built. There are so many potential answers to this, and realistically I am likely to play whatever is chosen - but personally I would like to see exploration of some wider world history rather than Western-focused ones. I will, however, give a (dis)honorable mention to the time of Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, up to around 1850. Maybe as a DLC to either Origins or Unity, as it's a time period that Chris, Kate, and I all know quite a bit about. I also think players would be fascinated to visit the places they have in Origins, but with a 19th-century make over.

CN: Mexico at the very end of the Aztec civilization at the time of the Spanish conquistadors. The idea of a monumental civilization being invaded by technologically and militarily superior Europeans echoes the story in Origins. And it would look AMAZING.

KS: I agree with Mexico, or the Inca in Peru. The Mississippian cultures like the Mound Builders and Cahokia, or the American Westward expansion during the gold rush too. It would be an interesting perspective on how terribly white people treated and exploited the peoples and the natural world on the way out.

More of massive graphic reconstructions of Hellenistic Egypt:

Graphic Reconstruction of the Djoser’s Step Pyramid Complex in Saqqara.

Graphic Reconstruction of the Djoser’s Step Pyramid Complex in Saqqara.

Graphic Reconstruction of the Pyramid of Amenemhet III at Hawara.

Graphic Reconstruction of the Pyramid of Amenemhet III at Hawara.

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A mastaba or pr-djt (meaning "house of stability", "house of eternity" or "eternal house" in Ancient Egyptian) is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inward sloping sides, constructed out of mudbricks.

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These edifices marked the burial sites of many eminent Egyptians during Egypt's Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom. In the Old Kingdom epoch, local kings began to be buried in pyramids instead of in mastabas, although non-royal use of mastabas continued for over a thousand years. Egyptologists call these tombs mastaba, from the Arabic word مصطبة (maṣṭaba) "stone bench".

The city of Amarna is an extensive archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly established (1346 BC) and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty, and ab…

The city of Amarna is an extensive archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly established (1346 BC) and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty, and abandoned shortly after his death (1332 BC).

Cyrene is depicted in Assassin's Creed: Origins to be much closer to Alexandria than it was in reality. It was actually located almost 500 miles west, near the modern-day village of Shahhat in Libya.

Cyrene is depicted in Assassin's Creed: Origins to be much closer to Alexandria than it was in reality. It was actually located almost 500 miles west, near the modern-day village of Shahhat in Libya.

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By Ubisoft