INTRODUCTION
From April 7th to April 10th 1997,
an International Workshop on Underwater Archaeology
and Coastal Management co-sponsored by UNESCO, the
Alexandria University, and the Supreme Council of Antiquities
of Egypt (SCA), was organized in Alexandria, Egypt.
Harry E. Tzalas., President of the Hellenic Institute
for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition, was invited
to participate in this conference and presented a paper
on the two Ports of Alexandria (1). During the course
of the conference Harry Tzalas had the opportunity
to experience first hand the progress in the underwater
archaeological work that was carried out in Alexandria
by the Centre d’Etudes
Alexandrines, under the direction of Dr. Jean-Yves Empereur,
as well as of other foreign missions. Contacts with the
Egyptian archaeological authorities resulted in the Institute
being officially invited to apply for a license to
undertake a survey in the coastal area of Alexandria.
After much thought and careful planning it was decided
that it was necessary to form a Hellenic Institute for
the research and study of the history and the topography
of ancient and mediaeval Alexandria. A joint application
was submitted by the newly formed Hellenic Institute for
Ancient and Mediaeval Alexandrian Studies, along with the
Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition,
which had previous underwater archaeological experience,
to the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt. The application
requested a license to survey the underwater area that
extends from ancient Cape Lochias (Silsileh) to the promontory
of Montazah (possible site of the ancient Small Taposiris).
The license was granted and the work started in May 1998
as a cooperation between the Hellenic Mission and the Department
of Underwater Antiquities of Egypt. A subsequent twelve
campaigns have followed the first mission, each campaign
lasting approximately 4 weeks. A team of 15 to 20 scientists-divers
(archaeologists, historians, architects. marine geologists,
topographers, photographers) participating in each campaign.
(1) Tzalas, H. E.: “The Two Ports of Alexandria:
Plans and Maps from the
14th Century to the Time of Mohammed ‘Ali”, Underwater
Archaeology
and Coastal Management: Focus on Alexandria. Paris (UNESCO
Publishing) 2000: pp. 22-32.
