Tunisian and Italian researchers were able to explore the remains of the city of Neapolis, part of which had been swallowed up by a tsunami.
The remains of a sunken city have been discovered off the coast of Nabeul, Tunisia.
"This is a major discovery "because it comes to corroborate stories dating from Antiquity, explained to AFP Mounir Fantar, director of the archaeological mission. Roman remains extending over 20 hectares under the sea were discovered during the summer of 2017 by a Tunisian-Italian mission in Nabeul, Tunisia confirms that a tsunami engulfed part of the city of Neapolis in the 4th century.
A city specializing in the production of garum
A joint team from the Tunisian National Heritage Institute (INP) and the University of Sassari-Oristano in Italy carried out underwater surveys which brought to light streets, monuments and above all nearly a hundred vats used for the production of "garum", a sauce of fish flesh and viscera, undoubtedly responsible for intestinal problems, but of which the Romans were very fond. "This discovery allowed us to be certain that Neapolis was a great center of garum production and salting, probably the largest center in the Roman world. And that (...) the notables of Neapolis must have really their fortune in garum ", added Mr. Fantar. The expensive product was transported in amphoras "which were exported through almost all the Mediterranean and built bridges between the different cities " in the region, according to the researcher.
An earthquake that also affected Alexandria and Crete
The mission began in 2010, first to try to find the port of the sunken city which was first a Carthaginian trading post mentioned by the Greek historian Thucydides before becoming a colony of the Roman Empire. It was therefore 7 years after the start of the mission and thanks to favorable climatic conditions for underwater research that the archaeologists discovered the 20 hectares of remains very close to the shore of the town of Nabeul located in the northeast of the Tunisia.
The team now has "certainty that Neapolis suffered from this earthquake "which dates, according to the historian Ammien Marcellin, from July 21, 365 AD, and which hit Alexandria and Crete hard, says Mr. Fantar. The tsunami that followed the earthquake submerged part of the city, which led to the relocation of salting activities. Today, "the most important thing is not to excavate but to preserve " these remains, to make "an archaeological reserve for future generations “, judged Mr. Fantar.