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Until a few years ago the archeology acted on the assumption that the great civilizations of the antiquity were responsible for all technical innovations. Therefore, those spread in the Levant, the Minoan Crete and later in the
Barbarian Europe as well as the Caucasus. Today we have evidence, that this influence also happened in opposite direction from the early metal cultures sub montane of the Caucasus. The written records of Herodotus tend towards the same direction, as he describes older trading contacts of the Egyptians into the Eastern Black Sea. One of those routes started at the sub montane of the Caucasus, through the Bosporus, the Dardanelles and the Aegean Sea to at least Crete. Many archaeologists still ignore those overseas trade activities.

For this reason, Dr. Görlitz prepares the new ABORA expedition, to proof the correctness of the written records from Herodotus in the practical experience. In the wave of the Argonauts and the tracks of Herodotus’ antique descriptions the sea journey will go from Varna via Crete and possible until Egypt. Therefore, the expedition follows prehistoric trade routes and will sail to unique sites of the world history.

One of the most important mysteries of human history is, how were the old Egyptians able to build the grand pyramids of Gizeh with simple techniques around 4.600 years ago. Herodotus was the only antique author to pass on profound knowledge about the construction of the big pyramid. He established convincingly two theses about the construction which shall be proven with this expedition.

1. For the construction of the pyramids the old Egyptians used iron tools.

2. The Egyptians imported their precious metals, for instance tin for the first tin bronzes as well as the iron of the pharaohs, via the seaway across the Black Sea.

to 1.) Therefore, Dr. Görlitz performed the Cheops project between 2013 and 2016 which documented the usage of iron for the construction of the big pyramid von Gizeh. The absence of any iron dross up to 900 BC in the Nile valley doesn’t help the criticism about Dr. Görlitz’ iron discovery to die down. Therefore, he was doing some research to find a possible source in the early antiquity and he discovered one: archaeologists discovered a site at the end of the Sixties in Armenia where already middle of the third century BC, more than 1.000 years before the Hittites, wrought iron has been produced.

to 2.) However, the modern Egyptology denies generally the existence of iron tools, because up to now there wasn’t any archaeological evidence for such iron equipment. Similar scenario is for the record of Herodotus (approx. 500 BC), that the old Egyptians received their valuable metals from areas around the Black Sea, today Russia, Georgia and Armenia. Pharaoh Sesostris I. (approx. 1975 until 1930 BC) apparently did a military expedition in this area and found today’s Georgian city Poti. Similar records exist from the Roman historian Strabo (approx. 100 AD).

Furthermore, Herodotus mentions with firm conviction the import of amber but also tin across the Black Sea from the Baltic States into the antique world. Therefore, Dr. Görlitz cooperates with many German, Bulgarian and Czech partners to bring the evidence that this tin probably origins from the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge). This scientific thesis is going to apply to the second part of the ABORA IV expedition, to transport both the iron of the Pharaohs and the tin of the Ore Mountains across the Black Sea all the way into the Inner Mediterranean Sea.

With the ABORA IV mission the empiric evidence can be generated, that Herodotus’ records are based on older but realistic sources and that such trade journeys with Egyptian papyrus sailing vessels were technically possible.