UNDERSEA CITY

Archeologists Raise Ancient Treasures Raised From City Sunk 2,000 Years Ago

The site may have been a part of the bygone coastal town.

Ancient treasures from a sunken city nearly 2,000 years ago have been retrieved by archaeologists and divers off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt. Cranes hauled the old relics from the bay of Abu Qir, retrieving items such as a headless statue, a sphinx, and a priest figure. The site may have been a part of the bygone coastal town called Canopus, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said. “There’s a lot underwater, but what we’re able to bring up is limited. It’s only specific material according to strict criteria,” said Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathi. “The rest will remain part of our sunken heritage.” Egypt signed UNESCO’s Convention on Underwater Cultural Heritage in 2001, which limits its ability to retrieve submerged artifacts. According to Mohamed Ismail, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the relics date back to successive periods, beginning with the Ptolemaic era, which lasted approximately 300 years. The retrieved treasures will be restored and exhibited at the Alexandria National Museum.