INDULGENCES travel A diver eye-to-eye with a sphinx in the ancient harbor of Alexandria. All photography by Christoph Gerigk ©Franck Goddio/Hilti Foundation


THE SEARCH FOR THE LAST QUEEN OF EGYPT


by joseph schmitt


What do a randy warrior, a temptress queen and a giddy Frenchman all have in common? And keep in mind… this is not a joke. They are all mystically connected to a sliver of coast on the Mediterranean in the land of Egypt.


Following Alexander the Great’s conquest of Egypt,


he resolved to found and leave behind him a large and populous Greek city that would bear his name. This city of Alexandria, the most famous of ancient times, remained Egypt’s capital for nearly 1,000 years. While Alexander did not live to see the completion of his city, his political legacy brought a new lineage of power to Egypt, known as the Ptolemaic dynasty. For nearly 300 years this dynasty ruled Egypt, blending traditional Pharaonic spiritual and cultural elements with those of Greece. From massive seaside temples and island


58 RAGE monthly | JULY 2010


palaces in Alexander’s namesake city, Cleopatra VII ruled her kingdom until that fateful day when the Romans defeated her and her lover, Marc Antony. Over time, in a city ravaged by political upheaval, uncontrollable fires, earthquakes and likely a tsunami or two, the ancient royal quarters, constructed in the shallow port waters of Portus Magnus, disappeared. As generations passed, these once iconic figures faded to the annals of history, and their once elaborate structures for worship, gover- nance and warfare, became something of a myth. Until, an eccentric French marine archaeologist rode into town


on his big research vessel in 1996. Franck Goddio is probably the most successful marine


archaeologist in the world. He has found and excavated historically important sunken ships the world over. And since the mid 1990s Goddio and his team, in cooperation with the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, have located the remains of the fabled ancient harbor of Alex- andria with parts of the royal quarter. When I met Franck Goddio recently onboard his research ship, the Princess Duda, I expected to encounter a seriousness of aca- demic proportions. Humbled to be joining such a famed


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