Most were in their bedrooms. A young mother still held her baby to her breast. They were covered by the father trying to protect them from deadly rain of limestone building blocks weighing approximately 400 pounds. The woman's neck was snapped by a block. The man wore a Christian ring.
Skeletons, now bald. This family of 3 clung together as their home was devastated by an earthquake. This earthquake destroyed the city of Kourion on Cyprus 1600 years before. On the other side of the house was a labourer taking refuge in the doorframe of his quarters. The wall collapsed against his skull and pinned him down
There was not much warning for the Kourions that fateful day. Witnesses were killed and the city City faded from history. It was a lost city. A curious archaeologist wanted to know the character of the inhabitants, what was the cause of their demise, could we learn about their art, commerce, customs and traditions?
The Greeks and Egyptians, Romans were interested in the city many years BC. Evidence of this lost city surfaced first in 1934. JF Daniel, a young archaeologist found evidence that Kourion was indeed flattened by an earthquake. Daniel became curator of the Mediterranean part of at the museum of the University of Pennsylvania. He kept a diary of his work, but oddly never published it.
During the last moments of Kourion, was as if an atom bomb exploded. The epicenter of the quake was either in Turkey, Crete or Palistine.
The mad discord of the elements reported by Ammianus convulsed Egypt and Greece. After the earthquake a tsunami arose, drowning many people. The tsunami apparently travelled at 500 miles per hour, believed to have reached as far as Gibraltar.
We suffer these natural disasters currently, but the scientists have learned much from archaeological discoveries to be able to warn us well in advance and to have security measures in place. There is so much to learn from historical events to ensure a safer life for us, living now.
Sources: Wikipedia, National Geographic, Pixabay, Google Images
