Event Inundation of Heracleion

If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this event you can find it here: All Statistics

Heracleion was an ancient Egyptian port city located near the Canopic Mouth of the Nile, about 32 km (20 mi) northeast of Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea. It became inundated and disappeared.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

  • January 751: During the 2nd century BC Alexandria superseded Heracleion as Egypt’s primary port. Over time the city was weakened by a combination of earthquakes, tsunamis and rising sea levels. At the end of the 2nd century BC the ground on which central island of Heracleion was built succumbed to soil liquefaction. The hard clay turned rapidly into a liquid and the buildings collapsed into the water. A few residents stayed on during the Roman era and the beginning of Arab rule, but by the end of the eighth century AD what was left of the city had sunk beneath the sea.