Floods Swept Ancient Nile Cities Away, Expert Says By Hillary Mayell for National Geographic News October 17, 2001 Two cities that lay at the edge of the Mediterranean more than 1,200 years ago, Herakleion and Eastern Canopus, disappeared suddenly, swallowed by the sea. Now, an international team of scientists may have figured out the mystery of why it happened. The researchers have concluded that the two cities collapsed when the land they were built on suddenly liquefied. The cities of Herakleion and Eastern Canopus lay at the edge of the Mediterranean more than 1,200 years ago, but disappeared suddenly when ...