A Lost Underwater City Has Been Found 1,700 Years After It Sank
Dear friends around the world,
I recently came across reports of the discovery of an underwater Roman settlement off the coast of Tunisia. For almost a decade, archaeologists have been searching for the Roman city of Neapolis, which was believed to have been sunk by a tsunami 1,700 years ago. The ruins of the lost city were recently found near the coast of Nabeul in Tunisia. Some ruins that had remained above ground were discovered earlier, but the underwater part of Neapolis was much more difficult to find. Incredibly, it took archaeologists seven years to succeed in this venture.
Historians hypothesised that the tsunami was caused by an earthquake that included two tremors; the strongest of which reached a magnitude of 8.0, leading to catastrophic consequences. According to records by Roman historian Ammien Marcellin, this disastrous event also damaged the ancient city of Alexandria in Egypt and the Greek island of Crete. The research team was able to confirm Neapolis was sunk by a tsunami on July 21 in 365 CE.
In the more than 20-hectare archaeological site, researchers found streets, monuments, and around 100 tanks used to make garum, a fermented fish condiment that was a popular delicacy in the ancient world. This discovery has allowed historians to establish with certainty that Neapolis was a major centre for the manufacture of garum and salt fish.
I wanted to share this story with you because it is fascinating to see how the mysteries of the past can be unraveled thousands of years later with clues left behind. This story is also a reminder of how nothing is ever going to be perfect, reliable or sustainable in this world. The world and everything in it is made up of causes and conditions that are fragile and impermanent. Because of this, nothing is solid, real or long lasting, no matter how perfect it may appear to be. Realising this truth is a long and difficult journey for some but it is the foundation for the development of genuine wisdom on the Buddhist path. I hope you enjoy the article.
Tsem Rinpoche
A Lost Underwater City Has Been Found 1,700 Years After a Tsunami Sank It
They even found a stash of… fish sauce.
DAVID NIELD | 5 SEP 2017
Archaeologists have come across a vast network of underwater ruins making up the ancient Roman city once known as Neapolis, which was largely washed away by a powerful tsunami around 1,700 years ago.
The dramatic deep sea find includes streets, monuments, and around a hundred tanks used to produce garum – a fermented fish sauce that was a popular condiment in ancient Rome and Greece and is likely to have been a significant factor in the Neapolis economy.
Expeditions to find Neapolis, involving researchers from the Tunisian National Heritage Institute and the University of Sassari in Italy, have been running since 2010, but the breakthrough came recently thanks to favourable weather conditions.
“It’s a major discovery,” the head of the team, Mounir Fantar, told AFP. “This discovery has allowed us to establish with certainty that Neapolis was a major centre for the manufacture of garum and salt fish, probably the largest centre in the Roman world.”
The ruins stretch out over 20 hectares (almost 50 acres), according to the team that discovered them, and show that Neapolis was indeed partly submerged by a tsunami caused by an earthquake on 21 July in 365 AD.
That event had been recorded by historian Ammien Marcellin, and the same natural disaster is thought to have caused substantial damage in Alexandria in Egypt and on the Greek island of Crete at the time.
While scientific measuring instruments weren’t around back then, historians reckon the earthquake was made up of two tremors, with the largest hitting a magnitude of 8.0. It was strong enough to push up parts of Crete by 10 metres (33 feet).
Originally founded in the fifth century BC, Neapolis means “new city” in Greek. The underwater site is right by modern-day Nabeul in the north-east of Tunisia, which is a popular tourist spot today and famed for its pottery.
The city changed hands between warring factions several times, making it an important historical hub in the story of its North African region.
What makes the discovery extra useful is that written records of Neapolis are few and far between in Roman literature – perhaps because the city was being punished for its lack of allegiance to the Romans.
The people of Neapolis sided with the Carthaginians during the Third Punic War in 149-146 BC, before the Romans won out and took control of the city.
“We were looking for the port and underwater prospecting allowed us to recognise other traces, and especially to have the certainty that Neapolis suffered this earthquake in 365 AD,” Fantar told AFP.
AFP has put together a video showing the underwater exploration, which you can see below:
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/TsunamiUnderwaterCity1.mp4
Source: https://www.sciencealert.com/this-lost-underwater-city-has-been-found-1-700-years-after-a-tsunami-sank-it
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Nothing is Impermanent, for sure can you imagine a beautiful just simply disappeared under sea due to natural disaster . It sunk and was discovered only after 1700 years later. It is an important reminder of impermanence for us all. Letting go whatever we hold on in this life as we came to this world with nothing and leaving with nothing too. I have heard of tales and myths of lost civilizations in books. But this is interesting. The famous ancient city of Neapolis, a quasi-mythical city that sunk beneath the waters of the Atlantic Ocean was discovered after so many thousand years. It was the divers who discovered the lost city then during one of their sea exploration. Its must be a massive tsunami that had taken place and sunk the whole city.Interesting discoveries.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Must be a happy occasion and amazing moment for the archaeologists and historians.
I once heard how this earth will be destroyed by water and fire, and the prediction of World War 3. All impermanence. Hence try our best to benefit every single person that we meet as we do not know how long it will last.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article.
Very interesting to complete the puzzle and locate ancient citiies that are no more.
It must have a hell of a Mother Tsunami to have completely sunk this city.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this news. I think that this will be quiet scary that the city will wiped out by natural disaster, but in the same time it reminds me impermanent, so we should treasure the people around us and things we have. Don’t take it for granted.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing.
Was wondering about the Lost city of Atlantis and there are no certain answer to it whether it vanished by nature as well.
The current place that we are now in will also one day vanished and may become history infuture if we do not do our part. What every lost previously is just a memory.
Just like dharma. If no one practise dharma, eventually it will vanished when Maitreya become the next Buddha.
???
Thank you Rinpoche for the article and video of the amazing discovery of Neapolis.
Indeed, no matter how thriving the city used to be.. or how famous or how central and pivotal the city used to be in the manufacturing of “garum”.. it still could not protect itself from Nature. The impermanence of the World, of that city was clearly demonstrated.
That aside, the discovery is definitely awesome and it can unravel more history of that city and its surroundings then. I cannot imagine how the city would have been should it withstand the test of Nature.
Thank you.
It is really amazing that after 1,700 years so many things like fermented fish sauce in the lost underwater city was found. Really unbelievable! Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for this interesting article.?
We always imagine that things stay the way they are. We are used to our daily, weekly, yearly routines and think about our next holiday, our goals for the next year or years but everything can end very fast. We can control some things but nature is much stronger and a tsunami, earthquake or volcanic eruption can change everything dramatically.
Thank you for the reminder that we don’t know what will happen in the future and it is therefore important to set goals that are very important not only for ourselves but also for others. In the end we will be remembered for what we have done for others, not what we have done for ourselves, isn’t it?.
Thank you for posting this interesting article ,. AMAZING ……a vast 1,700 year old Roman settlement has been discovered off the coast of Tunisia .After several years of archaeological exploration in search of the ancient city of Neapolis, archaeologists finally discovered the lost city . Neapolis is believed to have been submerged after a tsunami in the 4th century AD. The sunken city lost for 1,700 years beneath waves off of Italy’s west coast, has been revealed in stunning new photographs taken by divers who were allowed to explore the area. A timely reminder for us as there is nothing permanent except change. Whatever we have and everything is only temporary. There is nothing in life that is permanent.
Thanks again with folded hands.
Amazing! The lost underwater Roman city of Neapolis has been found 1700 years after a tsunami sank it! Great work by the archaeological team, researchers and the undersea explorers.
At the peak of its existence,Neapolis must have been renowned for its production of garum, a delicacy in the ancient world, and salt fish. Its streets must have been bustling with live and activity , with its citizens and all its city-dwellers probably expecting to live forever in pursuit of pleasure, when the Tsunami hit it. So impermanent is everything – fame, wealth, good living – with the end coming so suddenly and unexpectedly! The causes and conditions for this city to flourish and then to be destroyed , just like the causes and conditions for this world and everything in it to wax and wane and end ,are so ephemeral and fragile.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this interesting article on an ancient city lost and found, and for giving us a powerful teaching on impermanence.
However great the city or country is, nothing will last long. Like the Roman city of Neapolis, which archeologist believe that the city sank 1,700 year ago when it was hit by tsunami. So we should not hold on to anger and attachment. Thank you Rinpoche for your teaching will sharing this interesting and historical article.
Thank you, Rinpoche, for this sharing. Even a civilisation as great and strong as the Neapolis can be defeated (by nature) and vanished, it goes to show that nothing is permanent. It is an important reminder of impermanence; with this understanding, we must remind ourselves not to hold on to our anger, our dislikes, our power, fame and etc, because only enlightenment is lasting.
Thanks rinpoche for reminding me everything can’t be perfect
Is nice to visit the historical places, but it also creates a mystical feeling. That does remind me of one of the Paranormal episodes which featured Nam Hoe Villa (NHV) in Malacca.
Brief about NHV, is an accommodation for VIPs, hosted foreign dignitaries and federal ministers who visited Malacca post-independence, before it was turned into a popular Peranakan restaurant in the 1970s.
However, it has been abandoned since the 1990s till today.
Rinpoche has shared in this article and as I mentioned about NHV. Historical evidences have proven that Nothing is Impermanent, it is so fragile that it can be easily destroyed by natural disaster, war and etc., so don’t get attached to it. Let it go and spend our precious human body to practice Dharma