Mysterious destroyed temple and treasure discovered in underwater 'Egyptian Atlantis'

Historic Egyptian temple has been rediscovered after being sliding into a canal thousands of years ago.

A mysterious temple has been discovered in the sunken Ancient Egyptian city of Thônis-Heracleion, which has been described as the "Egyptian Atlantis."

Archaeologists have found a Greek-style temple, as well as several sunken treasures, such as coins or jewelry in Thônis-Heracleion, which was discovered in 2001. The temple slid into a canal running south of it and ultimately, destroyed the city, according to a statement from the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology obtained by Fox News.

"Only a small portion of the canal was excavated, but it seems that the remains of the temple filled it for around 300 feet, indicating both the size of this temple and the scale of its destruction," the statement reads. "The excellent preservation conditions suggests that future excavations here hold in store the potential for other discoveries of importance."

(Credit: Christoph Gerigk © FranckGoddio/Hilti Foundation)

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In addition to gold coins and jewelry, silver and bronze ritual artifacts, along with ceramics, were discovered at the site. The institute noted that "most of these objects were intact despite the catastrophe and their 2,200 years in the clay."

(Credit: Christoph Gerigk © FranckGoddio/Hilti Foundation)

The main temple, as well as the small, Greek-style temple (also known as a "tholos") date back to the fourth century B.C.

The landslide that caused the temple to slide into the canal was the result of an earthquake, which also caused a tidal wave that leveled most of the city.

Once a center of religious power, Thônis-Heracleion contained the temple where all the new Pharaohs had to go to receive the titles of their power as the universal sovereign from the God Amun, the statement added.

Mentioned in a number of ancient texts, according to The Sun, Heracleion was beset by a number of natural disasters over the years that eventually caused the remaining islets to be swallowed by the sea in the eighth century A.D.

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