The age of the port, according to scientists, is 4600 years. Cheops, also known as Khufu, reigned from 2580 to 2550 BC. The harbor was built 180 kilometers south of Suez, in the foothills of the desert mountains.
The port was found near a huge papyri archive, which is the oldest known to date. These papyri describe the process of building a port that was used by King Cheops to bring in the materials needed to build the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Because the port is located far from Giza, most likely it served for the supply of relatively light copper and minerals used for making tools. And the tools have already been used to build the pyramid.
According to the head of the excavations, Professor Pierre Tallet of the Sorbonne, the very fact of the existence of this harbor gives us an idea of the effectiveness of management and its (Cheops) ability to organize very complex logistics operations almost five thousand years ago.
Archaeologists, in particular, found 22 ship's anchors covered with limestone in the mooring area, which probably fell from ships, since no signs of wrecks were found. Several large vessels for storing various things were found next to the anchors, as well as pottery kilns. Near the pier, scientists found the remains of large stone structures 30 meters long and 8 to 12 meters wide.
Talle believes that these were the administrative centers that coordinated the operation of the port, and were also used to store materials and food for the miners working in the Sinai. Well, and as a kind of hotel for sailors.
Between two of these structures, archaeologists found a cache of 99 stone anchors, some of which are still with ropes. A significant number have inscriptions in red ink with the name of the vessel. This is really an impressive level of organization for that time.
Updated: 30 June 2018On the western coast of Crete is the amazing archaeological treasure of Falasarna - an ancient port, the only one in the world and unique in its kind. This place takes us back centuries to a long-lost culture that left behind many mysteries and traces of its existence. The combination of unique natural phenomena associated with the rise and fall of the sea level in the western part of Crete, as well as the strongest destructive earthquake in 365 AD, created an artificial harbor and raised the land from the sea, revealing the treasures of a great civilization that flourished during the time of Alexander the Great.
Archaeologist Elpida Hadzidaki spent 20 years of her life researching and excavating ancient Falasarna so that we could see the ancient Acropolis, two cemeteries and the ancient port.
The uniqueness of the ancient port of Falasarna
The artificial harbor of ancient Falasarna was built in the 4th century BC. during the time of Alexander the Great according to a technique that combines Phoenician and ancient Greek shipbuilding technologies.
One of the most powerful earthquakes in the history of the Earth, which occurred in 365 AD. e. led to the disappearance of Falasarna and its culture, but left a unique legacy for contemporaries. The uplift of the western part of the island of Crete led to a change in underwater infrastructure, brought port facilities to land, which allowed archaeologists to explore the bottom of the sea ... on land.
Two years ago, a large part of the ancient embankment was discovered, which is perfectly preserved. Even the mooring places of triremes (warships) with traces of ropes have been preserved, and there are no analogues to such finds anywhere else in the world.
Various structures for flood protection and traces were also found, which indicate that there was a flood on Falasarna earlier, and people were looking for ways to protect themselves from natural disasters.
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Falasarna
Falasarna has been inhabited since the Neolithic and pre-Minoan times. Many people here were destroyed during the Bronze Age during earthquakes, so the frightened inhabitants left Falasarna for 2000 years. Then, around the 8th - 7th century BC, the Dorians from Laconia came to Falasarna and began building a new settlement on the old ruins.
A state functioning in a normal legal regime and having a political system was created, which became the impetus for the development of a progressively developing society. Falasarna was one of the first cities to have laws engraved in stone and placed in temples (especially at the beginning of the era). The state had a Doric system of government like in Sparta, but without a king. There were no kings, there were rulers, a senate, a popular assembly and slaves. In general, there was a democratic system, as was at that time in Athens, Sparta and other Greek cities.
The main economic direction of Falasarna was the sea routes, thanks to which it was an international trade center with wide economic and cultural ties with the peoples of the east.
At the excavation site in Falasarna, many coins were found from various ancient cities of Crete, such as Kydonia, Polyrinia, Eleftherna, Aptera, and also from Sicily. Which means that there was a trade and exchange of products. Vessels from Egypt, with which trade relations developed, were also found.
The naval superiority of Falasarna was so great that she controlled the entire coast of the western part of the island of Crete from Cape Krios to the island of Andikitira. Falasarna flourished from the 4th century BC, when Persian gold began to infiltrate the Greek world to stop Alexander the Great's advance against King Darius and his empire. In Falasarna, with the money received from the Persians, they began to increase the height of the city walls and erect military buildings.
One of the sources of income for the city - the state of Falasarna, was piracy and the organized slave trade, which in turn provoked the wrath of Rome. Falasarna was first destroyed by the Romans in 67 BC. during the famous expedition of the Great Pompey against pirates from Cilicia (in ancient times, the southeastern region of Asia Minor), as well as during the military operation of the commander Quintus Caecilius Metellus against the Cretan cities.
An analysis of the data obtained during the excavations shows that after the destruction caused by the Romans, there were two major natural disasters in Falasarna. According to stratigraphic data, the first disaster occurred in 66 AD, it was a tsunami from a strong earthquake. The second and last blow to Falasarna was caused by the largest earthquake in the history of mankind in 365 AD, when the western part of the island of Crete rose from the depths of the sea by 6.5 meters in a few seconds, after which, a huge tsunami covered the port with tons of mud and sea deposits for 1600 years.
A glorious civilization that flourished for 300 years is lost and still buried underground in Falasarna, waiting to rise to the surface again centuries later.
Pierre Tallet, a professor at the University of Paris at the Sorbonne, told Haaretz (Israel) that in 2013 in Egypt, on the Red Sea coast, in the Wadi al-Jarf area, archaeologists discovered a port that, according to experts, was built 4,600 years ago. The port, in all likelihood, served to deliver materials for the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza (the Pyramid of Cheops). Pierre Tallet's group found this ancient harbor not far from the huge archive of papyri they discovered, which is the oldest of all known repositories. A small part of these finds was exhibited at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in the summer of 2016.
They describe the structure of the state, the daily life of the builders of the pyramids, and the process of transporting building material from the port to Giza. The ancient documents are very well preserved: some sheets are up to a meter long. The find finally refutes the naive stories about the use of mysterious technologies that are inaccessible to modern man. In addition, the archive contained records - tables showing daily or monthly food supplies from different places, including the Nile Delta. They mainly transported bread and beer for port workers. Since the harbor is located far from Giza, it was most likely that ships loaded with copper and minerals entered it, from which construction tools were made.
Pierre Tallet believes that the open port gives an idea of how Cheops ruled, ordered and organized his subordinates almost 5 thousand years ago. The pharaoh was not only a great pyramid builder, but also a merchant, because the ancient Egyptians traded in all the coastal cities of the Red and Mediterranean Seas. Ancient Egypt is inextricably linked with ship craft, sailing boats could pass up to 80 kilometers a day and were used not only for trade, but also for military operations.
Talle shared with Haaretz that the buildings were most likely warehouses for food and materials for workers, an overnight stay for sailors, and also administrative centers that were responsible for the operation of the port. Next to them, 99 stone anchors with red inscriptions were unearthed - the names of the ships, some of the anchors were even tied with preserved ropes. An impressive organization for such an ancient era!
However, modern Egyptologists doubt the "black legends of Cheops" and believe that Herodotus overestimated the required number of pyramid builders. According to Pierre Tallet, recent calculations have shown that in fact, 5,000 people are needed for the construction, or, if we take into account the people who delivered raw materials to Giza, no more than 15,000 people. Another misconception is that the Egyptians were treated like slaves at the construction site. In fact, they were free artisans who served under the tsarist administration, and, judging by the records on the papyri found, they were quite privileged persons.
To the northwest of Kaliakra is a wedge-shaped bay, enclosed by the imposing Cape Chirakman, the Dobrudzhan Plateau and Sheitanbair. The port of Kavarna is located in this bay. In ancient times, on the high plateau of Chirakman there was a Thracian settlement of Bison. Probably in the 5th or early 4th c. BC e. colonists from Mesembria settled here. Information about this city in the earliest centuries of its existence is very scarce. Probably, the golden wheat of Lesser Scythia (Dobruja) attracted Greek traders, who in exchange for it offered products of ancient Greek artisans.
For a long time, life here was calm. Numerous ships anchored and loaded their cargo in the bay. They filled the holds with products of the rich land of the Getae and Crobids who inhabited this part of ancient Thrace.
But at the beginning of the 1st c. BC e. as a result of a strong earthquake, a significant part of the high terrace of modern Chirakman came off and fell into the sea.
Earthquakes were a serious disaster in the areas of the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins. Their destructive power can be judged from the legends of many ancient peoples. In addition to the mentioned earthquake, descriptions of catastrophic shocks that destroyed many cities and settlements in a later era have come down to us. Such was the earthquake in the region of the Hellespont (Dardanelles) and in the Cyclades; it was also felt in Thrace. In 477, a strong earthquake in Constantinople destroyed many houses and churches, as well as the fortress walls of the city.
Summer 1961 and 1962 underwater archaeological expeditions were organized in order to find the remains of the city of Bison, which sank during the earthquake. It was clear to the leader of the expedition and its participants that no great success should be expected. The collapse of the earthen mass from a considerable height buried the ruined part of the city under it. Thus, there was no hope of finding the remains of the city intact. The purpose of the expeditions is more modest - to trace the place reached by the parts of the terrace that disappeared under water, and thus at least approximately determine the space that the ancient city occupied.
The research was carried out in two stages. The first expedition in August 1961 was primarily reconnaissance in nature - it was supposed to study the underwater landscape and establish conditions for further research. The results were encouraging, and in 1962 the group returned to the bay again. A part of the ancient wall 1.10 m high was discovered, located in the east-west direction, built of well-hewn limestone stones 75x35 cm in size. A belt of three rows of bricks towered above it.
Research near Chirakman confirmed preliminary assumptions: at a distance of 100-150 m from the coast, the bottom is covered with large, randomly lying stones; among them are smaller stones and fragments of amphoras. According to the head of the study, Goranka Toncheva, ships have visited those places where five or more accumulations of amphoras have been noted. Antique amphoras, mostly with Heracleian seals, and early Byzantine amphorae were also found. The latter show that the bay was also used as a port in later times. Conducted in 1952-1955. Archaeological studies of Cape Chirakman, the terrace where the ancient Bison was located, established that in the existence of the city after the 1st c. BC e., that is, after the ominous earthquake, there was a break. However, according to some reports, the city continued to exist in the Roman and early Byzantine era. Materials of this period discovered under water gave grounds to assume that he was located near this bay. Indeed, the remains of a Roman city - solid foundations of stone buildings, coins, ceramics, etc. - were discovered in the area of the present port of Kavarna. They indicate the location of the Roman Bison on a low seashore.
So, thanks to underwater archeology, the mystery of the sunken city was solved.
However, earthquakes are not the only reason for the death of ancient ports. There was another, outwardly completely invisible, but just as destructive force, which was the cause of the disappearance of many ports.
In 1964, on March 15, a solemn evening was held in the hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, dedicated to the underwater archaeological expedition near Nessebar. The head of the study, senior researcher Ivan Venedikov, made a presentation.
Underwater archaeological research in Nessebar
started back in 1960, following the expedition near Masleny Cape. In 1961 the second expedition continued its work. Its purpose is to explore the remains of the sunken fortifications of the old city.
Nessebar is located on a small peninsula connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. If you look from the height of Staraya Planina, you will see that the city looks like a large ship moored to the shore. The most ancient population of the small peninsula - the Thracians left the name of the settlement - Messembria (from the Thracian Melsembria). During archaeological research on land, traces of the life of the Thracians were found in many places: the foundations of dwellings and ceramics. The Thracian settlement was fortified with a stone wall, the remains of which were discovered in the northwestern part of the peninsula.
A Greek colony arose on this site at the end of the 6th century. BC e. and developed mainly as an intermediary in maritime trade between Thrace and the Greek world. Messembria reached the height of its power by the 4th century. BC e. It was built in the same way as the policies known since those times - self-governing city-states, with their own army and navy. Some inscriptions tell that in Mesembria there were temples of Dionysus, Zeus and Hera, Asclepius, Apollo. Back in the 5th century BC e. in the city began to mint coins of silver and bronze. They were found buried in the ground both in the vicinity of Nessebar and inland - in the districts of Haskovskbm, Veliko Tarnovsky, Shumensky, Silistrinsky; they testify to the extensive commercial activity of the city. Messembria maintained trade relations with Egypt, Athens, Pergamum, Korlnf, Tanagro in Boeotia, Olbia, Miletus, the islands of Thasos, Rhodes, Delos, and others.
As in Apollonia, Roman domination had an unfavorable effect on the fate of Messembria. Although the city authorities, trying to preserve their privileges, hastened to hand over the keys to the city gates to the Romans, the city lost its former brilliant position. Only with the transfer of the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople did an era of new prosperity begin for the coast. Its development continued into the Middle Ages. In the autumn of 812 the city was occupied by Prince Krum and annexed to the Bulgarian state. The population of neighboring lands called it Nessebar. From that moment on, its role as a port began to grow rapidly.
Particularly favorable conditions for the development of trade have developed in; period of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, or rather, during the reign of Ivan Alexander. All merchants of the then Black Sea and Mediterranean basins visited Nessebar. The wealth of the city has increased significantly. When in 1366 the crusaders of Amadeus of Savoy occupied and ravaged most of the coast, and the cities began to pay them huge sums of money to avoid destruction, Nessebar paid the largest amount - 17558 gold perpers.
The continued successful development of the peninsular city was primarily due to the fact that it had strong fortress walls. It was the oldest Thracian fortress. Later, they laid out a wall of large stones, placed one on top of the other without fastening them with mortar. She appeared at the end of the 5th century. BC e., when the peninsula had already become a Greek colony. The largest remains of this fortress wall, about 50 m long, are now preserved along the northwestern shore. The wall has several bizarre curves and goes from west to east, and then strictly at right angles to the north to the sea. In a slightly modified form, it continued to perform its protective functions until the arrival of the Romans in the 1st century. BC e. Which wall protected the city during the Roman period is still not known.
In the early Byzantine era, the fortress wall was built again (IV-V centuries AD). Like the previous one, it encircled the entire peninsula, but the strongest was built in the western part. And this is understandable. As now, in ancient times, the only way to open the approach to the city by land was a narrow isthmus. Therefore, it was necessary to build the strongest defensive structures here. A powerful fortress wall blocked the way for everyone who approached the city by land. The entrance gate was flanked by two strongly protruding pentagonal towers. Next to them, in front of the fortress wall, which had the shape of a horseshoe, there were two more round towers, which completed this horseshoe.
At the northern end of the western section, behind the round tower, the wall curved and turned to the northeast, following the contours of the coast. It intersected with another wall, built in a similar way, only leaving the inner part of the city in a northerly direction and reaching the sea. From the eastern border of the city, the wall continued again, following the curves of the coastline. Now that the sea is calm and the weather is clear, the remains of its foundation, parallel to the shore, are visible underwater. How should this break be explained? Maybe the wall went into the sea?
If you climb the preserved wall, which has a south-north direction, where the arch is now restored, and look closely at the sea, you can see a pile of stone blocks at a distance of 80 m from the coast. These boulders attracted the attention of the first Nessebar diving expedition. Observations under water have shown that blocks in the form of a ridge extend all the way to the shore. After the archaeologists outlined the ridge with slats protruding from under the water, they established that the line of the stone hump follows the direction of the ruined fortress wall, located on the very edge of the land. There was no doubt that the accumulation of stones was not accidental: this is the sunken part of the fortress wall.
In sea water, the ruins are overgrown with algae, covered with shells and are difficult to observe from the surface. The depth at which they are now (2 m at a distance of 15 m from the coast and 5 m at a distance of 80 m) does not allow for any research using the methods of classical land archeology. Only scuba divers can help here.
The study of the remains of ancient cities sunk under water - residential areas, public buildings, fortress walls, ports - is not the most tempting and pleasant thing of underwater archeology. Usually preference is given to the search and study of sunken ships. This is more romantic - the sunken ship recorded the last moments of the crew's life, and the cargo, sometimes almost untouched, can tell about distant seas and mysterious countries. The study of the sunken parts of the old cities is accompanied by more everyday and monotonous activities; work is carried out at shallow depths, usually in the immediate vicinity of the coast. Methods of terrestrial archeology are sometimes used, but under water their implementation is much more difficult.
Thick algae, mussels and oysters serve as a dense armor for the sea, under which it hides the secrets of the past. Centimeter by centimeter, light divers of the Nessebar expedition cleared the underwater wall, photographed and explored it. An accurate map was created, a large amount of factual material was collected. From the silent remnants of the then walls, the researcher has to recognize the plans of the ancient architect. Two cross sections of the underwater wall were made - the first at a distance of 16 m from the coast, and the second - at a distance of 43 m. In the first section, a wall 3.5 m thick was found, i.e. the same as on land. Stone pieces were soldered with mortar. Moreover, at a distance of 60 m from the shore, a part of a brick building was found between the stone pieces. This is part of a five-row belt of bricks, which encircles the fortress wall on all sides and alternates with masonry. The size of the brick is the same as that used for the construction of the fortress wall on land. The plaster is the same - white with crushed brick. There is no doubt - the stones and bricks under water are the remains of the continuation of the fortress wall in the north direction.
What was the purpose of the wall that extends beyond the outline of the coastline? Ivan Venedikov, head of research in Nessebar, explains this in an original way. Directly near the corner formed by the western and northern walls, the sea is shallow. An enemy advancing from the isthmus could go around this corner, wade through shallow water or on horseback and attack the less fortified northern wall. To protect the defenders of the city from an unwanted attack from this side, the ancient architect built one "whisker" in the continuation of the western wall, which went into the sea to a depth of 5 m. This obliged the enemy to attack the city from the north using ships and boats. And for the merchant fleet of Mesembria, a naval battle was not a problem.
A similar structure extending into the sea was also found on the southern side of the fortress. However, it is much more damaged. Only a few scattered large stones serving now for sea gulls to rest mark the line of the underwater wall.
According to another opinion, these two walls, which went out to sea, provided enough space for the mooring of ancient ships and at the same time were a breakwater.
In 9 A.D. e. On the way to imprisonment in Tom, the Roman poet Ovid passed through Messembria. He notes that the city had more than one port. Probably, the first was on the north coast, and the second - on the south, where the port of the modern city is also located.
But in both cases - be it a port or a barrier in the sea - the wall had to be built in the water. The method of laying stone pieces and soldering them with mortar is similar to what we see in a wall on land. This shows that sections of the underwater wall are built on a dry site. In addition, for construction in water, this method of construction is not typical. There is no doubt that the place where this part of the fortress wall is located was built up at the same time as the rest of the defensive structure on land.
The study of other sections of the fortress wall leads to similar conclusions. The northern part of the early Byzantine wall protected the peninsula to the east of the "moustache" protruding into the sea and is now preserved only at the bases flooded with water.
In subsequent years, underwater archaeological research near Nessebar continued. Efforts were directed to the study of the earlier Greek fortress wall. It is established that a significant part of it is now under water. Only the base, the lowest rows of stones, has survived. Cleaned by light divers, its white line is clearly visible under water, and it is separated from the modern coastline at a considerable distance. Research has not yet been completed, and therefore it is impossible to draw final conclusions about the entire line of the Greek fortress wall and the size of the city that it encircled. We must patiently wait for the complete completion of the surveys near Nessebar, which are carried out under the scientific guidance of Lyuba Ognenova. Until then we'll be back
to sunken walls.
Since 1957, as a result of a number of underwater archaeological expeditions, Soviet scientists have methodically explored the underwater areas of such significant ancient ports as Phanagoria, Olbia, Panticapaeum, Chersonesus, etc. In 1958 and 1959. during the study of the sunken parts of Phanagoria, it was established: in the IV-II centuries. BC e. the border of the ancient city ran 185 m north of the modern coastline, i.e. the territory of the city was 15 hectares more than known from excavations on land - 37 hectares. It is interesting that in the cultural layer of the IV - III centuries. BC e. the remains of a paved street, which was 3.2 m below the current sea level, have been preserved.
No less curious are the results of the study near Olbia. This Milesian colony was located on the western shore of the Bug Estuary. Now its ruins have been discovered in the south of today's village of Parutino, in the Ochakov region of the Nikolaev region. Olbia was located on two terraces - upper and lower, coming close to the bay. For many years the ruins of the lower terrace were washed by water. During the underwater archaeological research carried out here, the sunken parts of the city were discovered at a distance of 200-230 m from the coast. This suggests that in antiquity the Greek colony bordered the sea at a distance of 250 m from the current coastline.
Sunken parts of ancient settlements were also found in the Kerch Strait, near Chersonesus and in other places.
One of the first successes of Romanian underwater archeology was the discovery of sunken walls in the port of Mangalia. Along with amphoras, tiles, columns, capitals, etc., an ancient port basin was discovered. This port, which belonged to the ancient city of Callatis, was surrounded by walls of stone and brick. Now they are filled with water. The configuration of the coast has also changed. It turns out that the flooding process is typical not only for the modern port of Mangalia, but for the entire coastline between Mangalia and Constanta.
The examples given show that over the past 2000-2500 years, many walls, parts of ancient cities located near the coast on low coastal terraces, have been under water. To explain this phenomenon, one must turn to geology for help and consider the so-called
eustatic sea level fluctuations.
It has been established that the Quaternary period in the development of the earth was characterized by significant climate changes. During glaciations, huge masses of water turned into ice; this led to a decrease in the level of the oceans. On the contrary, during interglacial periods, the amount of water in large basins increased and the level of the seas rose. It is assumed that the lowering of the sea level during the glaciations was very significant. The last rise, which began 12 thousand years ago, led to the current level, which stabilized approximately 5-6 thousand years ago.
Fluctuations in the level of the World Ocean, called eustatic, had a significant impact on the formation of the coastline. Studies of sea level fluctuations can explain many facts.
Consideration of these facts as applied to the Black Sea basin leads to interesting observations. If the maximum lowering of the sea during the most intense glaciation is taken as 100 m and a 100-meter isobath is traced on the modern map of the Black Sea, then we will see that with such a lowering of the level, a significant part of the seabed (40-60 km from the modern coast) was land. It is very possible that man in this era lived on land, now submerged in the sea. Traces of his life must be sought in the territory corresponding to the isobath up to 100 m, for example, in the caves of Kaliakra and Masleny Cape, now flooded with water. This task is interesting and important, but difficult to implement.
A number of discoveries made in recent years make it possible to shed light on the history of the sea in a new way. It is believed that climate change and fluctuations in the level of the World Ocean in a weaker form continued in the post-glacial period, that is, over the past 10 thousand years. According to the researchers of this period, the largest warming in Europe occurred about 5-6 thousand years ago. But what happened after that? According to one theory, the transgression of the sea, in spite of individual fluctuations in its level, continued steadily on the whole. Over the past 20 years, the level of the World Ocean has risen by an average of 2.25 cm. More accurate information exists about the Soviet Black Sea coast. Thus, according to the data of hydrometeorological stations in Odessa and Kerch for 76 years - from 1880 to 1956, the level of the Black Sea increased by 20-25 cm. intensity in different areas. Soviet researchers also found that over the past 6300 years, the sea level has risen by almost 9 m, which corresponds to an average rate of its rise - 14 cm per hundred years.
The conclusions drawn from the study of rainfall in coastal areas are in almost perfect agreement with the results of underwater archaeological research. Soviet archaeologist prof. V. D. Blavatsky established that the remains of the street of the ancient city of Phanagoria sank to a depth of about 4 m at a speed of 16 cm per century.
What is the situation on the western Black Sea coast? When we consider the change in sea level over the past three to four millennia, we must keep in mind: it happened differently in different areas, which is explained by some local changes (lowering or rising) on land. It is believed that with the beginning of the Holocene (the modern geological epoch, began 10 thousand years ago), the entire western coast of the Black Sea sank, as a result of which the sea swallowed up part of the land. Maybe then some small islands were formed off the coast, such as Bolshevik, St. Ivan, St. Peter, St. Thomas. The mouths of large rivers - Veleka, Karaagacha, Dyavolska river, Ropotamo, Aheloy, Khadzhiysk, Dvoynitsa, Kamchia and Batova - turned into deep-water bays. At the same time, the offensive of the sea, known as the Novochernomorskaya transgression, also took place. As a result, the level of the Black Sea rose by 5 m. When did this process start? At what pace did it continue for millennia? Was it the same for all regions? These questions can only be answered after research.
flooded monuments on the western Black Sea coast.
A large amount of pottery recovered from a depth of 6-8 m shows that there was a prehistoric settlement near Cape Atia. The earliest items recovered date from around 3200-3000 BC. e. Consequently, at this place, in the course of 5 thousand years, the sea level rose by 8 m.
In August 1958, children playing in the shallow waters of Lake Burgas (Vayakjoig) found two amphoras. It was established that there was a burial place according to the rite of cremation. The ashes of the burned man are placed in a red-figure vessel with an interesting scene of a feast in honor of Dionysius depicted on it, and the vessel itself is tightly closed with a part of another amphora. Two years later, in the spring of 1960, another burial was found in the same place. The ashes were placed in a red-figure krater, an exquisite work of ancient Greek art. In both cases, the burials took place on land. Now, however, the remains are at the bottom of the lake. There is no doubt that this necropolis, which belonged to the neighboring ancient settlement in the area of Sladkiye Kolodtsy, was subsequently flooded by the water of the lake, which was previously connected to the sea. The objects found in the necropolis belong to the end of the 5th and the beginning of the 4th centuries. BC e.
The materials discovered north of the Izgrev district in Burgas probably also belong to a sunken prehistoric settlement. They date back to the 4th millennium BC. e. In order to get a more realistic idea of the western coast of the Black Sea over the past few millennia, when water has been advancing on land, flooding ports and necropolises, we must add to these traces of the past the sunken walls of Nessebar fortifications and the basin of the port of Callatis absorbed by water.
However, we have not listed all the sunken monuments or their parts discovered so far along the coast, since it is not known whether they were on land, whether they were sunk into the sea or built under water. It is also unknown at what level the walls and other structures, now flooded with water, were built, whether on the shore itself, at the then water level, or on the first lowest terrace, etc. Only after measurements of each object found, after the discovery of other sunken parts ancient cities and settlements, you can get a more accurate idea of \u200b\u200bchanges in sea level in a new geological era.
Clearly aware of the incompleteness of observations, it can still be argued that along the coast, the sunken monuments of which we are considering, over the past 5 thousand years, the sea level has been steadily rising; in some areas, the rate of sea level rise coincides with that known on the Soviet coast - 16 cm per century.
The degree of sea level rise is important to study
ancient ports of the coast.
All records of busy shipping over many centuries indicate that there were convenient ports along the coast. The statements of Ovid and Arian about the presence of one or two ports in many places along the western coast of Pontus are not without foundation. These ports were the objects of special attention in the treaties that the coastal cities entered into. So, in the Decree of the Council and the People's Assembly of the city of Mesembria in honor of the Thracian ruler Sadal, along with other honors, it is noted, along with other honors, that his ships have the right to enter the Mesembrian port and leave it. Records of the right to "enter and exit" are found in ancient documents and other coastal cities.
And in ancient times, the export and import of goods were associated with the payment of the appropriate fee, which was a significant part of the income of coastal cities. Therefore, the city authorities were interested in building ports.
To create a convenient port, certain natural conditions were necessary, and above all, a bay well protected from dangerous northeast winds. Of great importance was the location of the entrance to the bay from the sea - it had to be convenient for the passage of ships under sail. In the case of insufficiently good natural conditions, breakwaters had to be built. In the early era, when they were built under water, large stone blocks were laid. It was practiced to build breakwaters under water and with the help of smaller stones. Piers were built near the bay on the shore and holes were made in the stones or special metal rings were provided to hold ships. Usually ships anchored in the port basin and at the same time tied with a long rope to the pier. Port entrances were marked with towers, often adorned with sculpted figures. Chains were lowered between these towers to prevent entry into the port without permission. At the entrance to one of the four ports of Miletus, there were two lions - strict guardians of the city and its sea gates. The role of two marble lions raised from the bottom of the Taman Bay near ancient Phanagoria was probably similar.
Significant progress in the construction of ports is noted in the Hellenistic era. Trade increased, and with it shipping increased, which required large and reliable ports. In the Mediterranean, such ports were built at Piraeus, on the island of Delos, at Miletus, Corinth, and elsewhere. Thus, on Delos, which in the Hellenistic era turned into a truly international center of a large scale, due to the favorable configuration of the coast, there were several ports. The most famous was the sacred port of Delos (trading port), where there was a great sanctuary of Apollo. According to some reports, 10 thousand slaves were sold here every day in the Hellenistic era, along with other goods. The total length of the berths in the ports of Delos was 1700-1800 linear meters. m. In the construction of berths, small pools, enclosed by breakwaters, were also used.
No less grandiose for its time were the gates of Athens to the sea world - the port of Piraeus. The large port provided a place for the simultaneous parking of 372 ships. Its construction cost 1000 talents, or 6 million drachmas, which is equivalent to 26 tons of silver.
The convenient geographical position of Miletus - the founder of the colonies on the western coast of Pontus - allowed him to build four ports. The pier of the lion's port was built of large marble stones and had a width of 18 m.
Naval structures reached significant development during the Roman era. And then they continued to use natural bays, successfully, without any difficulties, the construction of breakwaters was carried out. The most accurate idea of the construction of the port in antiquity can be obtained from the work of the Roman engineer and architect Vitruvius (about 70-20 BC), entitled "On Architecture 10 Books". The twelfth chapter of the fifth book is devoted to port facilities * .
* (Mark Vitruvius Pollio. About architecture 10 books. Per. A. V. Mishulina. L., Sotsekgiz, 1936, book, 5, ch. 12 "On harbors and structures on the water", p. 149. - Approx. ed.)
According to Vitruvius, "... if there is no convenient natural place to protect ships from storms, but some river flows in these places and there is a bay (parking place), it is necessary to artificially build piers of stones or make embankments, i.e. to build harbor fences. Stone structures in the water should be built as follows: bring Puteolan * sand from the areas stretching from Cum to Cape Minerva, and mix it with a solution of lime in the ratio - two parts of sand to one part of lime.
* (Puteolan - from the Latin terra puzzolan - calcareous soil.)
Further, Vitruvius advises in the chosen place to lower boxes of oak boards tightly connected to each other, filled with stones with mortar, into the water. Vitruvius gives instructions on how to build underwater breakwaters in rough water and in inconvenient places. It follows from this that at the turn of the 1st c. BC e. and I c. n. e. the construction of complex structures, which made it possible to equip large and convenient ports, did not present an insurmountable engineering problem.
What were the ports on the western coast of Pontus in ancient times? Unfortunately, we cannot say anything definite about this. Cities such as Apollonia or Messembria, located on peninsulas protruding far into the sea, had moorings for ships on both sides of the peninsula.
Successful studies were carried out in 1967 and 1969. Naval Museum of Constanta in the Gulf of Mangali. The remains of breakwaters and wharves discovered underwater show that the ancient port at Callatis was located on the shore of a small bay, and the builders made good use of its convenient location.
It is possible that both walls in Nessebar (Greek and early Byzantine), which are now under water, were part of the fortress wall and were built in such a way as to close the port from the northeast winds and create a calm basin for mooring ships. The configuration of the peninsula at that time is not entirely clear. No progress is being made on the foundations of the walls that are under water. Obviously, further searches in this direction can clarify a lot. It is possible that the ancient forests along the coast played a big role, traces of which are difficult to find. What is the importance of breakwaters? As a result of underwater archaeological research, the remains of several breakwaters were found.
All light divers who have completed a course of training or retraining in the Sozopol Bay area know that to the south of the small island of St. Kirik, in the direction of a small lighthouse, there is an underwater wall - a breakwater. It was built from rounded stones of various sizes. The base of the underwater wall is relatively wide. Now it is at a depth of 3-4 m. Was this breakwater always under water, or during the period of its use did it rise above the water and serve as protection from waves and winds? Without conducting special studies it is difficult to say anything.
It can be assumed that under the wall of today's breakwater, which connects the island of St. Kirik with the peninsula and gives a certain shape to the port of Sozopol from the northeast, there was an older breakwater. At the same time, taking into account the transgression of the sea and the rise in its level in the last two thousand years, the question arises: was this area now flooded with water, land?
A breakwater similar in construction to the one found in the port of Sozopol has also been discovered in the Bay of Varna. It starts from the Cote d'Azur and encloses a section of the bay in the south-north direction. As established during underwater archaeological research, this breakwater, 4 to 4.5 m high, stretched perpendicular to the coast for 250 m. Its highest part, which has survived, is located 2–2.5 m below sea level. The cross section of this breakwater, as well as the breakwater in the port of Sozopol, looks, according to G. Toncheva (head of research near the Cote d'Azur), like a hill, rounded at the top.
Underwater breakwater near the Cote d'Azur near Varna. (Scheme of engineer A. Bezhev in G. Toncheva's book "Sunken Ports")
In general terms, the structure of the underwater breakwater, opened under the lighthouse of Cape Palat, is the same. It was built in the direction from south to north and is composed of large, correctly hewn stones.
In the port of Balchik, a 2.55 m thick wall was found underwater during dredging works. One of the raised stones was a limestone block measuring 70x50x40 cm. The wall is parallel to the new breakwater and continues into the sea. What is it - a breakwater, the pier of the ancient port of Kroni - Dionysopol, or a sunken part of some other wall?
All the walls so far known along the western Black Sea coast, flooded with water, which can be considered breakwaters, are characterized by two features: they are built from heaped stones without mortar, that is, under water; their height does not exceed the present sea level. We still cannot say whether they were at the level of the water or towered above the water. There are suggestions, not without foundation, that this type of structure did not rise above sea level, but broke the waves from below. There is no data on their dating either.
All the sunken structures testify that the advance of the sea on land, which is noted in the last five millennia of the development of civilization, was the most important reason for the change in the coastline, as well as the reason for the disappearance of many marinas and quarters of old cities.
The chapter “Ports” of the subsection “Architecture of the Roman Empire” of the section “Architecture of Ancient Rome” from the book “The General History of Architecture. Volume II. Architecture of the Ancient World (Greece and Rome)”, edited by B.P. Mikhailov.
In the era of empire, there is a further increase in the volume of maritime trade in the Mediterranean. The number of ships and their tonnage is increasing, as well as the number of shipping. This process, of course, requires the construction of new ports and the reconstruction of old ones. In the first centuries A.D. Giant ports arise, such as Ostia, Carthage, Alexandria.
All ports, including those using natural harbors, had various artificial structures: breakwaters, breakwaters, dams, lighthouses, etc. Small ports had one basin for parking, unloading or loading ships, the largest ports had several.
The simplest type of port (the ports of Trajan in Centumcellae and Tarracina in Italy and the port in Caesarea in Palestine) with one pool could have a different arrangement. As a basin for the port, they tried to use a bay or lagoon (for example, the port of Claudia in Ostia, Fig. 165), equipped with a number of artificial structures. In the same cases, when economic or other needs forced to build a port in a place where there were no bays, an artificial bay was created, protected from the sea by breakwaters. Sometimes the mole went in a long strip along the coast, fencing off the port from the sea. More often, however, ports were built with two piers and a narrow passage between them.
In the II century. AD ports were very popular, the basin of which had a rounded or polygonal shape in plan (for example, the port of Trajan in Ostia). The convenience of this type was the large length of the berths, which made it possible to moor a large number of ships at the same time.
Ports with not one but several basins were widespread. Ascending to the type of the Hellenistic port, where one basin was intended for merchant ships and the other for military ships, they largely lost their military function in the era of the empire. All the largest ports of the empire belonged to this type, as well as many others (Tyre, Sidon, Cyzicus). Sometimes a system was used that combined sea and river ports (Ostia, Antioch in Syria). To improve the conditions of navigation in such cases, canals were often built.
Much attention was paid to the construction of lighthouses. The channel that connected the port with the sea was often divided into two branches by a natural or artificial island, on which the lighthouse was located. One of the sleeves in this case was intended for entry, and the other for the exit of ships.
The port was considered not only as a utilitarian building, but also as a monumental ensemble. The entrance, where high towers of lighthouses were erected, stood out in particular. Porticos were usually built along the piers, triumphal arches were erected on the piers, and temples of sea deities were erected in the depths of the complex of port facilities.
