Lost Greek Island Home To Ancient City Of Kane Found In Modern Day Turkey

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A team of international geo-archeologists claim to have found a lost island in the eastern Aegean that once contained the ancient city of Kane, site of the famous Greek Battle between Athens and Sparta.

The lost island of Kane lies just off Asia Minor, in modern day Turkey.

Protothema reports:

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The lost island mentioned in ancient texts is believed to be the site where the famous battle of Arginusae took place between the Athenians and Spartans in the 406 century BC. Following the Athenian victory, the state’s commander was tried and executed becahse he did not help the wounded soldiers or bury the dead. The ancient city of Kane gave its name to the peninsula, and is believed to be the harbor chosen by the Romans during the war against Antiochas III in 191-190 B.C.

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Geoarcheologists surveying the area found that samples showed that this was the region mentioned in ancient texts. They carried out surface surveys near Dikili’s Bademli village, coming to their conclusion after examining samples from the underground layers. They realized that one of the peninsulas was in fact an island in the ancient era, and its distance from the mainland was filled with alluviums over time.

The geo-archaeologists involved in the excavation were from Cologne University in a project led by the German Archaeology Institute.

The ancient city of Kane, was once the site of a famous sea battle.

National Geographic reports:

Stormy History

Though Kane was only a small city in antiquity, it held a place along a strategic maritime trade route running from the Black Sea along the southern coast of Turkey, with a large harbor where ships could shelter from storms.

Previous research uncovered pottery on the island that suggested trade routes; now certain microorganisms native to the Black Sea that were likely carried in by boats to the nearby port of Elaia offer additional evidence of trade networks.

“Classical archaeology has become much more complex than, say, 20 years ago,” Pirson says. “We can now incorporate many more subtle techniques of studying environmental influences.”

Historic Battle

The battle of Arginusae was a bittersweet victory for the Athenians. Though they defeated the Spartans, soon afterward a storm made it impossible to rescue the Athenians whose ships had been destroyed. When the victorious Athenian generals returned home, the citizens voted to execute them for failing to rescue these soldiers.

“It destroyed the morale of Athenian commanders and led indirectly to total defeat a year later,” says Barry Strauss, who studies ancient history at Cornell University.
The Athenians’ vengeance ultimately contributed to their downfall, agrees Cambridge University’s Paul Cartledge. “Democratic Athens managed to snatch defeat from victory’s jaws—by putting on trial all eight of the admirals who had won the battle, and then illegally condemning them all to death.”