The Canal of Xerxes: facts and problems

Abstract

When Xerxes prepared for the invasion of Greece, he could draw not only on the impressive wealth and manpower which his Empire afforded but also, where special problems required it, on the considerable expertise available to him. The construction of a bridge across the Hellespont, and the digging of a ship canal across the Mount Athos peninsula at its narrowest point involved the use of all these resources. The bridge has long gone, but traces of the canal can still be seen on the isthmus between Nea Roda on the northern and Tripiti on the southern shore, in the narrowest section of the Mount Athos peninsula. It represents not only the most impressive surviving monument of Persia's short-lived imperial presence in Europe, but also one of the most important pieces of ancient marine communication engineering anywhere. That it should have attracted the attention of classical writers from Herodotus onwards, and of scholars and travellers in more recent times, is not surprising. It is however remarkable that modern archaeological research has passed it by completely. Yet there are not many cases where a detailed technical report from ancient times could be so fruitfully linked with modern methods of investigation -providing, incidentally, a useful test case for the much discussed veracity of Herodotus.To obtain information about the canal, three lines of evidence are available to us. There are, firstly, statements by classical writers, especially by Herodotus (VII, 22-24, 37> 122); 1 secondly, reports by more recent visitors, including the one by Col. Leake 2 who visited the site in 1806, and more in particular the description accompanied by a survey map, offered by Choiseul-Gouffier 3 (who discusses what he saw in 1766) and the detailed account and plan published by Spratt; this latter represents the state of things encountered by him in 1838, when he was detailed by Commander Graves of H.M.S. Beacon, in which he was then serving as a lieutenant, to measure across the isthmus of Mount Athos at the spot where the canal was cut by Xerxes. 4 Lastly, there is the testimony offered by ocular inspection now, and by air photos of various quality and date: detailed maps of the canal zone by the Greek authorities are in preparation but are not yet available.The reasons which impelled Xerxes to order the digging of the canal was, we are told, his desire to avoid a repetition of the disaster which struck the Persian fleet led by Mardonius when it tried to round the Mount Athos headland in 492 B.C. Sailing around this headland has indeed remained a potentially dangerous operation for small craft, particularly since adverse winds and currents may prevail during considerable parts of the year. Both Choiseuil-Gouffier and Leake refer to this fact; indeed the latter reports that he 1 For a list of classical and later authorities who have 3 M.G.A.P. de Choiseul-Gouffier, Voyage pittoresque en referred to our subject see E. Oberhummer in RE II

Exploration of the Canal of Xerxes, Northern Greece: the role of geophysical and other techniques

“…Surface indications of spoil heaps, harbour installations, breakwaters, buildings associated with the running of the canal, workers' dwellings and so on are not evident either on the present ground surface (Isserlin, 1991) or on an (Greek Air Force) air photograph of October 1989 (but see later section). In sum, then, we can suppose the canal was buried in antiquity under sediment, the canal's only vestiges today being a broad depression along the central sector.…”

“…Today, beginning at its northern end by the village of Nea Roda, the presumed course of the canal (Figure 2) passes from the sea across an area of open flat land, that had in Leake and Spratt's time been a lagoon, to the central sector, which in parts resembles a large natural depression but is not entirely straight (Isserlin, 1991) (Figure 3). At the southern end towards Tripiti, some 250 m from the sea, a torrent bed appears to dissect the canal transversally, and this stream passes between two hills by the present-day seashore, draining into a pool separated from the sea by a gravel barrier.…”

“…Responding to the many issues arising from previous work at this enigmatic structure, one of us, BSJI, initiated and has directed a new programme of exploration at the canal, consisting to date of a number of brief seasons between 1991 and 1996 of geophysical and topographic surveys and borehole drilling. An account of the state of knowledge about the canal prior to the present project is given by Isserlin (1991), and Isserlin et al (1994and Isserlin et al ( , 1996 present the results, for an archaeological readership, of the topographic and geophysical surveys up to and including 1994; finally, the findings from the seismic survey along one profile in the central sector have been published by Karastathis and Papamarinopoulos (1997). Another of us, JU, prepared a preliminary report on the second series of VK's seismic measurements, the results of which are reported fully here.…”