Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities recently retrieved underwater ruins from a sunken city off the coast of Alexandria.
On August 21, divers and cranes retrieved ancient statues from the site, located in the waters of Abu Qir bay.
Egypt’s tourism and antiquities minister, Sherif Fathi, told Agence France-Presse: “There’s a lot underwater, but what we’re able to bring up is limited, it’s only specific material according to strict criteria. The rest will remain part of our sunken heritage.”
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Agence France-Presse reported the statues included “royal figures and sphinxes from the pre-Roman era, including a partially preserved sphinx with the cartouche of Ramses II, one of the country’s most famous and longest-ruling ancient pharaohs.” However, many of the statues were missing components.
The sunken city also included limestone buildings, residential spaces, commercial structures, reservoirs, artifacts, and a 125-meter dock that is more than 2,000 years old.
Authorities told Agence France-Presse, which first reported the news, that the site “may be an extension of the ancient city of Canopus, a prominent centre during the Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years, and the Roman empire, which governed for about 600 years.”
However, earthquakes and rising sea levels eventually put the city, and the nearby port of Heracleion, under water.
The Egyptian ministry also found a merchant ship, stone anchors, and a harbor crane dating back to the Ptolemaic and Roman eras located at the dock. The ministry told Agence France-Presse that the dock was used for small boats until the Byzantine period.