Thonis Herakleion: The Sunken City of the Pharaohs 

Have you checked out my latest channel Business Blaze? It's interesting business stories with a dose of ridiculousness thrown in. Check it out here: ru-vid.com/show-UCYY5GWf7MHFJ6DZeHreoXgw

Simon Whistler's voice is so common place around our house that when our family were planning an invite list for a wedding recently, my dad wrote wrote his name down because he 'feels like part of the family'

"If I sounded convincing reading that, then I did a good job because I have no idea what that's talking about" 🤣 love the little Simon breaks.

As someone who has studied Underwater Archaeology and Egyptology, I must say this video is very well researched and accurate. I hope I will get to dive at Thonis Herakleion one day!

On the matter of osmosis damaging artifacts: Osmosis refers to the tendency of a solution containing more units of something on one side of some kind of semi-permeable (allowing limited exchange of molecules) membrane than on the other to seek to equalize that concentration. This can either happen by the solved substance seeping over to the side with lower concentration, or by the solvent moving onto the side where the concentration is higher. What exactly happens, depends on the membrane and the size of the solvent and solves substance. The speed at which the exchange happens depends on the difference in concentration, but it's not a linear dependency, but a logarithmic one: halving difference will for example reduce the speed of the osmotic process by a factor of 10, and a quarter would leave it at only 1% (these are not real numbers, just examples). In case of water containing salt, usually the dissolved ions are larger than the water molecules of water, either by sheer size of the atoms making up the salt, or due to the fact that the ions are hydrated, meaning they are surrounded by a shell of water molecules sticking to them, This means it is usually the water that passes through the membrane. For objects found in under water, the substance making up the object - stone, ceramics, wood, .. - is acting as the semi-permeable membrane: now, any pore containing salt water will have the water at ambient pressure - for something found under water this is already higher than air pressure. It took a long time for the water to seep in (and / or partially dissolve the matrix of the artifact) and it can't just drip out. This means that fresh water would flow into the pores, increasing the pressure further, ultimately to the breaking point, making the artifact crumble. Just immediately drying the object wouldn't work well either, as that would trap the salt within the artifact, making it grow into crystals. These would in turn make the object brittle and ablate at least their outer surface. The same effect you sometimes see in the cellar walls / foundations of houses. So the solution is to first reduce the salt concentration of the water soaking the object by the same osmotic process, but slowing it down by reducing the difference in concentration. While initially it'll be water seeping in, the salt will slowly dissipate out, too, reducing the concentration to a point where using fresh water in a second step will not damage the object. If necessary this could be done in more than just two steps, and each of the steps may take months of waiting.

Absolutely loving the opening The Little Mermaid quote!

I live in Minneapolis and went to the Sunken City exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and my goodness was it overwhelmingly cool. These artifacts were being seen by eyes that were centuries old. I was filled with a reverence that transcends time. I hope we continue to discover more about the history of this sunken city. There has to be more!

5:18 LOL! Simon... always so charming, honest and funny! Makes us love you all the more.😉❤👍🏻

I was privileged to attend a lecture by Franck Goddio and view many artifacts at the exhibition last autumn. This was truly one of the most spectacular archeological discoveries in recent years. Thank you for doing this video and I'm looking forward to seeing much more from this channel!

I've always had a fascination with lost cities, and this one caught my interest right away. Loving all this new content! As always, outstanding work, Simon.

*Looks for physicists in the comments* 👀

I saw the exhibition in Cincinnati several years ago. Some of those statues were so massive, it's amazing they raised them from the ocean. Definitely see it if you can.

Only two videos in, but this is rapidly becoming my fave channel! Great job presenting fascinating content! 😊

Without checking to see if anyone else has answered the magnetometer question, here's roughly how it works. NMR is a resonance phenomenon. Atomic nuclei "precess" like little spinning tops, and the frequency with which they precess is governed in part by the ambient magnetic field. That frequency can be measured by its resonance with electromagnetic waves -- when the frequency of the wave corresponds to the frequency of precession, you get a resonance effect -- a spike in the intensity of the EMF wave. Since the frequency of the precession is determined by the magnetic field, small variations of the magnetic field -- in this case the magnetic field of the earth as modified slightly by the objects on or under the seabed, will show up as variations in the resonance frequency, hence its use as a magnetometer. My degree is actually in Atmospheric Physics (University of Arizona, 1975), so I'm dredging up some 50-year-old memories here, but I'm reasonably certain this is a good description of the general way the thing works.

I love being here right from the start. It’s like my own a secret channel

If you intend to explore more sunken cities, consider the city of Adria, upon which Venice was constructed on, and from which the Adriatic Sea gets its name. Also Pavlopetri of the coast of Greece; at 5,000 years old, it's one of the oldest sudden cities in history.

A million years ago I got a BA in Classical Studies. I even have had a decades long affection for Egyptology. I NEVER heard of Thonis. I HAD heard of Herakleion, that it was a city in Egypt, dedicated to a Sun god. I also knew of Goddio's work on Alexandria. But the discovery of two other "lost" cities, Canopus and Thonis, completely escaped me. Ancient Egypt never disappoints. Bless Franck Goddio and all who sail on him. Er...with him. ;)

Simon whistler, host of Visualplitik en, Today i found out, biographics, toptenz and now geographics. One day, Simon will take over youtube. Nice video by the way

There could be two more reasons why a lot of ancient texts don’t mention Thonis. One is the burning of the Library of Alexandria in 48 BC during the defense of the city from Ptolemy XIV by Julius Caesar on behalf of Cleopatra. Untold numbers of ancient major and minor texts were destroyed in that fire. The second was the sacking of Rome in 410 AD by Alaric and the Visigoths. While the Visigoths avoided raiding Christian holy places, they did take many noblemen houses and other important buildings probably destroying one-of-a-kind manuscripts in the process. Your quote about cities fading away can be applied to knowledge as well.

Two videos and I'm hooked. As for your pronunciations or mispronounciation, don't sweat it. Nobody is perfect. Please keep up your excellent work.

Simon: the man who could easily find Carmen San Diego

Man. Just imagine a city that was 1,600 years old. It's crazy to think how incredibly short our "modern" times really is. I mean, Damascus is still around. And they say that place has been continually inhabited for over 11,000 years. It would just be so surreal to be in a city with that kind of history to it. Walking down the same streets where countless other people had, centuries ago. Its a humbling thought. And i imagine an humbling experience, to boot.

The spoken-word recitation of Under the Sea is on point 👍

1:20 - Chapter 1 - A slumber of a twelve centuries 3:30 - Chapter 2 - Franck Goddio 6:35 - Chapter 3 - Underwater archeology 8:45 - Chapter 4 - Hunter of lost cities 12:00 - Chapter 5 - A venice of the nile 14:40 - Chapter 6 - Disappearance of thonis 17:20 - Chapter 7 - The teaching of thonis

Thonis is also was known as Herakleion or Thonis-Heracleion and its one of the ancient Egypt cities you can visist in Assassin's Creed Origins game. In case someone is not familiar with it this game is amazingly historically accurate.

Great new channel cheers ya boldy bearded glasses gem. Much love

Wow Simon, I'm pretty sure you are the hardest working man on RU-vid! Love the work you do! Don't ever stop!

When you already follow all the rest of Simon’s channels so this new one gets recommended and realize “He’s got a new channel!”

This is just so damn good! I’m obsessed by ancient Egypt bc we know an incredible amount and yet there is so much more. It’s a mystical beautiful culture intelligent and epically successful, so fascinating...I’m having a nerdgasm. Thank you for that, I need a smoke

Please do a video on The Library at Alexandria! Love your videos!

Mr. Whistler I'd love to see you do a video on the Isle of Tortuga and its history of 17th century piracy

Love Biographics and this channel has got off to a great start

Violent osmosis: Osmosis that fights others just caus it doesn’t agree with your ion ratio.

12:45 Geo: “the sun gods worship began to eclipse other deities” Me: “heh. Eclipse”

I've subscribed to all your channels! I feel like I've finally found the history teacher I've always wanted but never had. Thank you so much!

I absolutely love this channel, I've followed your others. I'm excited to see where all you the other areas you choose to cover

I am so in awe of how much content Simon is involved in and how active he is on social media! I only work 8-5 and still can't be bothered to answer messages. Does the man sleep?? Side bar- Love the content as always.

This is everything I wanted in a chain of channels History & Geography.

Absolutely awesome! Good stuff, y'all! I've always been obsessed with lost cities and ancient cultures. :)

Thank you for giving this channel a mention on your Biographics channel. I thoroughly enjoyed this video and look forward to watching more. Your closing line cracked me up too! Also, the bit about the reality of of once grand cities sinking into oblivion made me think of New Orleans... Maybe in the next hurricane. You never know...

You’ve popped up on my feed, was super excited to see something new other than stuff from 2008-2013. Absolutely love these kind of videos please keep posting ❤️

Simon, Those “underwater balloons” as you called them are called “lift bags” by people that dive and recover objects. They are air tight bags that are taken under the water and air from scuba tanks (for small bags) or air pumped from the surface (for large bags) to inflate the bags exactly like a scuba BCE inflates to bring a diver to the surface. Yes you really made me laugh with that one! Underwater balloons! 😂

Just discovered this channel and already in love with it :)

Simon, thanks to the whole team in the hard work that went into this fascinating story!

So excited about the new channel. Can't wait for more videos!

The quote from the little mermaid in the beginning made me laughing so hard with how deadpan simon said it.

Keep em coming 👍

Love the new channel! Thank you 😘

How absolutely amazing! Just seeing the uncovering of our predecessors' achievements in antiquity really kind of makes you proud to be a human, in contrast to all of the things that have the opposite effect. Great video y'all!

Simon, you and your Team deserve a LOT of credit because I firmly believe you guys are one of the top educational programs on RU-vid. I don't just mean this channel either. All of your Channels are loaded with useful/interesting information, and cover a wide variety of topics, which is really awesome. I know that I'm not alone in my appreciation for you guys busting your butts to bring us all of the different channels, and the speed with which you do :). I just want to say Thank You very much for all of the hard work you put into everything you do :)!

I watch about every video from all your RU-vid channels and I gotta tell you. I love this video. Please make more like it and thank you!

Lost, forgotten, and hidden cities, especially those found underwater, are so fascinating.

How the bloody hell do you guys (and gals) make so many videos. Not only that they're all quality vids. Really cool man.

My new favorite channel.

This is a deeply intriguing topic! Thank you for covering it. I’m so glad to get in on your channel from the first!

Really enjoying the new channel , thank you for expanding on this little known city. Peace Charlie 🇬🇧

Pseudo chemist here! Basically, salt affects the way water interacts with other objects/substances. Think of how a fresh water fish would die in the ocean due to its cells not being able to recieve/dispose of water correctly. Love the new channel! Hope to see more great content soon!!

what the hell, how many channels is this guy involved with?

It's like everyday I come across yet another Simon channel. Love it!

What an amazing, educational channel!! I'm excited about it! I'd never heard about this wonderful port till now 😲 Thanks so much to Simon & the team! ❤👍👍👍👍👍

"Amun was a solar God, associated with the Sun with creation and power. Over the centuries its worship had grown to the point of _eclipsing_ many other deities." *I see what you did there!* 😉

The Simon Whistler pronunciation is always official as far as I'm concerned

I'm loving this channel. Hope you guys can keep it going.

I swear every chanel you guys do is boss👏🏻 keep up the good work simon and team

Basically desalination is moving salt from a higher concentration to a lower. If you'd rather moving any salt from the find to the surrounding water. In order to stop massive corrosion of the find and easier for further study in the long run.

If you try to remove the salt from the stone too quickly, the process could cause the surface of the stone to disintegrate. By making the water half as salty, you slow the process down and protect the artifacts surface.

I have arrived here from your recent tweet about this channel, having been watching all the other channels of Simon's rise of dominance over RU-vid, this one shall not go amiss. Fantastic quality of the last two videos and I hope they continue :)

I like that you don’t act like you know all there is to know on chemistry and other subjects. You just honestly admit what you don’t know which makes your video better. You’re just teaching what you know and I really respect that. Good video. Actually really interesting. This is the first video I seen about this and I’m seriously in awe. This is so amazing that this was found

Very interesting. More like this would be great!

Always loved biographics but this channel is next level, learning about different places is so interesting. Never heard of this place before but this was so interesting, great video! Also I love how the editing is the same style as the biographics channel

Saw an exhibition in Paris a few years ago of Egyptian artifacts rescued from beneath the ocean. It had to be from Thonis. Incredible sculpture, fascinating history. Thanks, Simon, for bringing this to light and for this new channel! Good luck.

Loving this new chanel. Keep it up you guys 👏👏👏

Really enjoy your content, but could you include Some more maps since it is content About a loaction

God damn these length videos daily! Sign me up!

I'm just discovering Geographics, and I must say I'm really glad you guys push out such informative content. Thanks for that and keep up the great work.

I just started watching today and subscribed also, there's a ton of realy great stuff to watch here and it's all realy well made.. will surely keep looking out for new videos.

You need to do a video on Wisconsin Dells. I absolutely need to hear Simon talk about Wisconsin Dells.

"Everything's better down where it's wetter"

Great video! Learned new stuff. Thank you! Subscribed. Simon - I like the self deprecation and humor in this video. Levity always helps with learning so thank you.

Awesome video, can't wait for more !

You should explore the mystery of Punt Land in an upcoming video.

Was this your home Thanos? - It was, and it was beautiful..

Your best is more than good enough. Thank you.

As always I look forward to your uploads they are always interesting

As to how/why this city was forgotten, I thought maybe all records of this beautiful city burned with everything else when the Library of Alexandria burned. Alas, it isn't likely as the fire was in 48 B.C. This was a truly fascinating video. Thanks so much for the information! Speaking of the Library of Alexandria...is this a subject you may cover? My apologies if the video has already been done; I have a terrible memory!

Simon. To my family and I, you ARE youtube.

I learn so much from your videos Simon. Your presentation is informative & entertaining. Please keep them coming! Thank you!🧐😊

Great videos! Keep them coming! I watch so many videos regarding mysterious subjects and so many of the reporters do not take the videos seriously or give mis-informed information. Simon all the way!

Your team should do the Palace of Versailles.

Violent osmosis explanation Things like to remain neutral just like electricity wants to travel predictably you can predict how minerals such as salt will travel through a solution or from one particular place to another we have a name for this process we call itOsmosis. This process of neutralization between chemicals by putting the solution of salt water and freshwater around the artifact that has been submerged in salt water for the better part of 20 centuries the natural proclivity of the salt in the artifact will be pulled out by the freshwater as it wants to neutralize however because it is half salt the “pull” if you will , is not going to be as strong as if it were in pure freshwater in fact the effect of placing an object made of lime stone or many other materials that are porous that I’ve been submerged in a very salt drink solution for 20 centuries and then placing it in a solution with no salt will cause the salt to violently stabilize which could damage the artifact as this occurs

Simon, I've only recently stumbled across your channels, so I've been bouncing around without rhyme or reason, but I wanted to tell you how much I'm enjoying your videos! So educational, and I love your presentation!

Fantastic video Simon. Always entertaining your videos and well researched. Expertly / compellingly narrated 👌

Curious if this Heraklion is a Colony of Heraklion on Crete? Both have been devastated by Tsunamis too

You can explore Herakleon in Assassin Creed Origins. Fun times.

Fantastic job, so well researched and produced.👍

great show Simon thx

*You did not put any of the links in the description.*

I kept thinking Simon was saying cannabis.

One of my favorite RU-vid searches.

Most Appreciative 💟