Storm Harry, Neapolis, and a Digital Moment of Preservation.

By: Margarita Johnson

The new year began with Storm Harry sweeping across Tunisia’s Mediterranean coastline, reshaping the coastline and disturbing layers of sand that had settled undisturbed for centuries. Local observers and archaeologists in the days after the storm observed a rare and unmistakable historical event: portions of the ancient city of Neapolis submerged beneath the shallow waters near modern-day Nabeul.  

Neapolis was an ancient Punic city, later acquired by the Romans, conveniently positioned within Mediterranean trade networks. In the 4th century CE, according to late Roman historical accounts, a catastrophic tsunami devastated large parts of the North African coastline. Archaeological studies have consistently shown that Neapolis simply collapsed into the sea during this event, leaving buildings, streets, and people submerged offshore. Over time, marine sediment concealed these remains, making them invisible to the professional eye, until Storm Harry recently revealed parts of that city. Powerful waves, stormy weather, and coastal erosion stripped away the sediment, revealing stone blocks, wall alignments, and traces of urban infrastructure rarely seen so clearly. 

Early 2026 hasn’t stopped surprising us, and extreme weather conditions can not only be devastating but also create short-lived documentation opportunities for cultural heritage. During that narrow window, TanitXR successfully obtained a splat capture of a newly exposed area of the site. The brand new digital recording allowed the team to preserve the spatial depth, texture, and structural relationships of the ruins at a precise moment in time. Although coastal processes continue to reshape the site, the remains have not yet been fully reclaimed by the sea, creating ongoing opportunities for observation and research. At the same time, TanitXR’s captured data preserves this rare moment of public exposure.

Storms like Storm Harry increase the vulnerability of coastal and submerged archaeological sites to climate-driven extremes. However, from archaeological and preservation perspectives, they highlight the growing importance of digital documentation. Through methods such as splat capture, TanitXR transforms history into enduring records for the public conservation of heritage and the memories of people long gone. Neapolis now exists simultaneously as a visible coastal archaeological site and within a digital archive. What the sea revealed during the storms remains observable today, allowing this ancient city to inform ongoing research, education, and cultural memory beyond the storms.

References:

LacusCurtius • Ammianus Marcellinus — Book XXVI. (n.d.). https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/26*.html 

Catalogue of earthquakes and tsunamis in the Mediterranean area from the 11th to the 15th century : Guidoboni, Emanuela : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (2005). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/catalogueofearth0000guid 

Romeartlover. (n.d.). Neapolis (Nabeul), an ancient Roman town in today’s Tunisia. https://www.romeartlover.it/Neapolis.html 

Buyukyildirim, O. (2026, January 21). Nature Strikes—and History Answers: Could lost Punic-Roman city of Neapolis Be Resurfacing in Tunisia? Arkeonews. https://arkeonews.net/nature-strikes-and-history-answers-could-lost-punic-roman-city-of-neapolis-be-resurfacing-in-tunisia/?utm_source=chatgpt.com 

Tanit XR. (2025, December 24). Home – TANIT XR. TANIT XR. https://tanitxr.org/