The Emperor's Lost Harbor

Thank you, the Odyssey YouTube Channel, for making it easy to find ancient world documentaries to expand my Ancient World list that way I can do a good list of the recommended documentaries for school.
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Istanbul is a city of 17 million people, spread over two peninsulas. Only two bridges and several ferries serve those 17 million people who cross the Bosporus straight.  The Turkish Government is looking to build a train under the Bosporus to help with people crossing the straights.  The tunnel will have to be put fifty meters under the surface.  This would be the deepest tunnel in the world.  However, as the tunnel was put into place there have been amazing finds that tell us about the history of the harbor in Istanbul.  The Run time is 41:48.

The Tunnel was supposed to open up in 2010, however, the building of that tunnel is being delayed.  Why is this building project so delayed?  As the tunnels are being built, these tunnels are finding artifacts.  These find talk about the history of the Harbor and the history of Constantinople.  Yards and yards of finds are being found and processed as soon as they are being dug up.  There is an amazing array of finds from the Byzantine period.  Animal bones and skeletons have been found on the site.

Additionally, wooden poles were found.  These poles supported an ancient pier.  Then a boat appeared on the site.  Thirty-seven shipwrecks were found on the site.  These ships were well preserved and shocked the world.  The old harbor had been found and it had been lost for over eight hundred years.  Seventy meters beneath the surface, additional treasures are being found. 

The delays and discoveries have cost the tunnel project over thirty million dollars and those costs are increasing.  Construction of the train station has begun, so archeologists are working alongside the construction crews.  The Archeologists are working as fast as they can to remove the objects from the site.  It is particularly challenging when bulldozers are working on the site as well.  There is also a deadline to excavate the area.

On the harbor sites longships, round ships, and small coastal ships have been found on the site.  The archeologists prepare to remove one last   We have only known about the ancient harbor through paintings and there was no evidence found for the harbor until the tunnel.  The city had a large harbor and was a trading capital.

Constantinople was known as the new Rome and the New Jerusalem.  It was the largest and wealthiest city in the world.  It was a grand city with grand columns.  There were grand bath buildings as well as grand palaces for the Byzantine Emperors.   The key to its power was the harbor.  This power lasted for nine hundred years.  Much of the old city is buried under the new city and with this tunnel project going on, new secrets are being revealed.  Time is of the essence to reveal this old city.  Archeologists are working day and night to dig the site.  The company building the tunnel has provided lights for the site that way the archeologists can work day in night.  Eventually, the site will be covered with a train station and a giant mall.

Will the archeologists discover why this harbor disappeared in such a short time?  What was thy key to this port that enabled Constantinople’s trading power?  What will its recovery tell us about the history of Constantinople?  As work continues for both construction crews and archeologists, an older shipwreck is being rescued.  The archeologists work digging on the ship, and the timbers and cargo are being discovered on the ship.  Did some of the items belong to a crew member?  Or was this merchandise to be sold?  The finds are hinting that there was a golden age of Byzantine.  What else will the archeologists learn about Constantinople?  Continue to watch this documentary to find out more.

This would be a good documentary to show in an ancient history class as well as a Middle School Classroom.  If you are a teacher who wants to take a break from Ancient Rome documentaries then this would be a documentary to show in a classroom.