Ever heard of the metropolis of Helike ? For a long time it was as recede ( and considered as mythical ) as the metropolis of Atlantis . Then one twenty-four hour period someone found a coin from Helike , and the search was on . Take a look at how people obtain the ancient metropolis of Atlantis — on land .
Atlantis was a fable — a metropolis that sank into the ocean after a “ day and night of misfortune . ” Helike might very well be the metropolis upon which the Atlantis legend was found . For quite some sentence , scholars of Greek history establish denotation to the city of Helike . It was mentioned in The Iliad as having sent a ship out to struggle in the Trojan War . It join up with twelve other cities and maintained an coherent stretch of soil . It was a naval king . And it sank into the sea . No trace of it was left .
Over time , the great unwashed became certain that it was no more than a twisted off - shoot of the Atlantis legend . A urban center might be raze or depopulated by some natural disaster , but wiped off the Earth without a ghost ? How was that possible ? There was no sign of the city at all . And then , about a hundred years ago , a coin turned up . It was a small , mundane coin that had a face in profile . And it had the name of Helike on the other side . It let mass do it that they were chasing more than a just a legend .
Searches began in earnest , then . They gradually deepen over the years , culminate in The Helike Project in 1988 . The task first used sonar to sound out the ocean . There was nothing . They took the search to the land , still finding nothing . At last , they thought that the caption might be a half - verity . What if Helike had n’t sunk into the sea , but a kind of sea bubbled up to arrogate Helike ? The projection began searching for star sign of dry - up lagoons inland , and in 2001 , detect ancient Greek ruination buried deep in the Earth . When they bet at the coins they find oneself , they recognise what had finally happened to Helike .
Helike was built on a liquefaction zone . When an earthquake hits such a zone , the soil suddenly behave as though it were water . Suddenly , all the buildings sink like they were dropped on the sea . Meanwhile , the sea — and any surrounding groundwater , is hasten upwards to receive them . In 373 BC , an quake turned the soil beneath Helike into liquid , and the entire urban center dip into a freshly - made lagoon . Meanwhile , parts of the coast in the area break off and slither into the sea , causing a monolithic tidal wave that rush across the sea , rebounded off the far sea-coast , total back , and entomb the sunken metropolis under water . A day and night of misfortune , and Helike was gone . Over sentence , silt and dirt washed into the laguna and it dry out up , bury the metropolis in malicious gossip . The lost Atlantis is n’t lurking under the ocean . It ’s buried in the solid ground .
ViaThe BBCtwiceandArchaeology.org .
Image : Helike.org
ArchaeologyScience
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