Port Infrastructure
Organization of the Eastern Port of Alexandria
Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC on the western margin of the Nile Delta, Alexandria developed over several centuries thanks to its particular geomorphology and the careful management of the coastline. An outcrop of Pleistocene sandstone substrate provided a stable foundation for construction, while also supplying building material. Backed by an inshore lake, the city spreads along the shore facing an island which the Greeks called Pharos, which was from early times connected by a causeway 1200 meters long. This Heptastadium is the origin of the twin port complex: to the west of it is the port of Eunostos, to the east the Portus Magnus (or Magnus Portus). The ambition of the research project, initiated in 1992 by the European Underwater Archaeology Institute led by Franck Goddio, was to accurately determine the ancient topography of the areas now submerged of the eastern port. This study was necessarily connected to the research on the geodynamics of the natural environment of the western Nile Delta as a whole.
The research objective was to understand the organization of the Portus Magnus of Alexandria. The scientific approach adopted was to conduct geophysical and geological surveys supplemented by the recording of archaeological data from excavations, as well as researching available literary, epigraphic and iconographic sources. In particular, it would not be conceivable without a thorough knowledge of the historiographical accounts of the early explorers. These allowed us to establish reference points in an area of research which covers 400 hectares of the present eastern port ("Cleopatra’s Needles", Cape Lochias, etc.).
A scientific approach to these planned surveys had to take into account the topography of the area. The ancient relief of land now submerged had been disturbed over the centuries by seismic events (earthquakes and tidal waves), hydrographical changes (flooding and sea-level change) and geological movements (subsidence). But alterations did not cease with immersion. The submerged terrain was no less subject to seismic changes or to the action of sediments, currents and waves. In addition, the upper layer of the sea bottom consists mainly of sand and silt from the Nile, brought by easterly currents. In Alexandria the bottom of the Western Port thus has a deep sediment accumulated over the centuries. It is probable that many archaeological remains in these areas were rapidly covered with sediment. While it is possible to locate artefacts and structures by careful mechanical survey over small areas, this approach is unrealistic given the vast areas considered. The observation of the current state of the bottom using geophysical and geological survey instruments (bathymetric sonar, side-scan sonar, sediment sounder, magnetometer, geological coring) was inadequate to reveal the antique topography. Only a survey carried out using advanced electronic technologies, such as nuclear magnetic resonance magnetometers could achieve this.
The results show that the port of Alexandria was struck at different times by geological and cataclysmic events such as the tidal wave of 21 July 365 AD that affected the coasts of the south-eastern Mediterranean or tremor land occurred in the middle of the eighth century AD. They also confirm the slow movement of the land subsidence that affected this part of south-eastern basin of the Mediterranean. These, occurring either independently or concurrently, could cause major destruction and explain the disappearance of much of the site under the waters of the Portus Magnus.
While the geophysical surveys of the harbour of Alexandria and the underwater excavations that followed, did not reveal the splendour of the palace of Alexandria, they allowed a detailed map of the East Port and its surroundings to be made. Research has established with some precision the contour and sometimes even the structure of facilities and buildings that once stood near the palace: the royal ports, the Timonion, the Island of Antirhodos, ancient piers, etc.. They have revolutionized our topographic knowledge of the port facilities serving the Basileia, this ensemble of coastal palaces on the waterfront which housed, side by side, government buildings and cultural institutions. The results have radically changed our topographic knowledge of the ports and palaces of Alexandria. The study of the dock basins has been pursued to determine their depth and the type of sedimentation, to locate wrecks, and to draw up the plan of the quays. Identifying and studying the many architecture features covering the palace area was accompanied by surveys to clarify the chronology of the building of the facilities, their abandonment and destruction. The organisation of the ports does not look as we imagined, it is technically more consistent. The Eastern Port of Alexandria was a wide bay, whose periphery was occupied by a succession of docks built from the Ptolemaic era and later structurally optimized by the Romans (port infrastructure sunk into the substrate or constructed on top, dams, jetties, enveloping moles, etc.).
David Fabre and Franck Goddio
The next publication (F. Goddio, D. Fabre (eds.), Alexandria. The topography of the Portus Magnus. Underwater archeology in the Eastern Harbour of Alexandria in Egypt, OCMA Monograph, Oxford, forthcoming) will detail the results obtained in the Portus Magnus of Alexandria: analyses of findings, surveys, soundings, chronological sequences, possible parallels with ancient texts, etc. An overview of the port infrastructure of the East Port discovered by IEASM, along with a discussion of the role of engineering considerations in the choice of its location and architecture has just been published: D. Fabre, F. Goddio, ‘The Development and Operation of the Portus Magnus in Alexandria: an Overview’, in A. Wilson, D. Robinson (eds.). Alexandria and the North-Western Nile Delta- Joint Conference Proceedings of Alexandria: City and Harbour (Oxford 2004) and Trade, Topography and Material Culture of Egypt’s North-Western Delta (Berlin 2006), OCMA, Oxford, p. 53-74.
The research objective was to understand the organization of the Portus Magnus of Alexandria. The scientific approach adopted was to conduct geophysical and geological surveys supplemented by the recording of archaeological data from excavations, as well as researching available literary, epigraphic and iconographic sources. In particular, it would not be conceivable without a thorough knowledge of the historiographical accounts of the early explorers. These allowed us to establish reference points in an area of research which covers 400 hectares of the present eastern port ("Cleopatra’s Needles", Cape Lochias, etc.).
A scientific approach to these planned surveys had to take into account the topography of the area. The ancient relief of land now submerged had been disturbed over the centuries by seismic events (earthquakes and tidal waves), hydrographical changes (flooding and sea-level change) and geological movements (subsidence). But alterations did not cease with immersion. The submerged terrain was no less subject to seismic changes or to the action of sediments, currents and waves. In addition, the upper layer of the sea bottom consists mainly of sand and silt from the Nile, brought by easterly currents. In Alexandria the bottom of the Western Port thus has a deep sediment accumulated over the centuries. It is probable that many archaeological remains in these areas were rapidly covered with sediment. While it is possible to locate artefacts and structures by careful mechanical survey over small areas, this approach is unrealistic given the vast areas considered. The observation of the current state of the bottom using geophysical and geological survey instruments (bathymetric sonar, side-scan sonar, sediment sounder, magnetometer, geological coring) was inadequate to reveal the antique topography. Only a survey carried out using advanced electronic technologies, such as nuclear magnetic resonance magnetometers could achieve this.
The results show that the port of Alexandria was struck at different times by geological and cataclysmic events such as the tidal wave of 21 July 365 AD that affected the coasts of the south-eastern Mediterranean or tremor land occurred in the middle of the eighth century AD. They also confirm the slow movement of the land subsidence that affected this part of south-eastern basin of the Mediterranean. These, occurring either independently or concurrently, could cause major destruction and explain the disappearance of much of the site under the waters of the Portus Magnus.
While the geophysical surveys of the harbour of Alexandria and the underwater excavations that followed, did not reveal the splendour of the palace of Alexandria, they allowed a detailed map of the East Port and its surroundings to be made. Research has established with some precision the contour and sometimes even the structure of facilities and buildings that once stood near the palace: the royal ports, the Timonion, the Island of Antirhodos, ancient piers, etc.. They have revolutionized our topographic knowledge of the port facilities serving the Basileia, this ensemble of coastal palaces on the waterfront which housed, side by side, government buildings and cultural institutions. The results have radically changed our topographic knowledge of the ports and palaces of Alexandria. The study of the dock basins has been pursued to determine their depth and the type of sedimentation, to locate wrecks, and to draw up the plan of the quays. Identifying and studying the many architecture features covering the palace area was accompanied by surveys to clarify the chronology of the building of the facilities, their abandonment and destruction. The organisation of the ports does not look as we imagined, it is technically more consistent. The Eastern Port of Alexandria was a wide bay, whose periphery was occupied by a succession of docks built from the Ptolemaic era and later structurally optimized by the Romans (port infrastructure sunk into the substrate or constructed on top, dams, jetties, enveloping moles, etc.).
David Fabre and Franck Goddio
The next publication (F. Goddio, D. Fabre (eds.), Alexandria. The topography of the Portus Magnus. Underwater archeology in the Eastern Harbour of Alexandria in Egypt, OCMA Monograph, Oxford, forthcoming) will detail the results obtained in the Portus Magnus of Alexandria: analyses of findings, surveys, soundings, chronological sequences, possible parallels with ancient texts, etc. An overview of the port infrastructure of the East Port discovered by IEASM, along with a discussion of the role of engineering considerations in the choice of its location and architecture has just been published: D. Fabre, F. Goddio, ‘The Development and Operation of the Portus Magnus in Alexandria: an Overview’, in A. Wilson, D. Robinson (eds.). Alexandria and the North-Western Nile Delta- Joint Conference Proceedings of Alexandria: City and Harbour (Oxford 2004) and Trade, Topography and Material Culture of Egypt’s North-Western Delta (Berlin 2006), OCMA, Oxford, p. 53-74.