Workers guide a crane as it transports an artifact from the waters at Abu Qir bay in Alexandria on August 21, 2025. AFP
The event, taking place on Thursday and Friday, starts with the debut of a special exhibition at the Alexandria National Museum titled “Secrets of the Sunken City”, along with the museum’s newly equipped library.
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy and Alexandria Governor Ahmed Khaled Hassan Saeed inaugurated the launch of the events.
A statement by the Ministry of Tourism said that the artefacts were discovered in the ancient cities of Canopus and Heraklion in Abu Qir Bay, east of Alexandria.
The pieces highlight aspects of daily life, religious rituals, and funerary traditions during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.
Guests also toured the museum’s new library, which houses more than 1,100 specialized books on Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Coptic, Islamic, and modern history, as well as museology, restoration sciences, and children’s literature.
The library features facilities for the visually impaired.
The event was attended by senior officials along with ambassadors, consuls, and public figures.
Minister Fathy stressed Alexandria’s unique blend of history and modernity, calling it “one of the world’s most beautiful cities” and highlighting efforts to promote the city as part of Egypt’s tourism programs.
He pointed to ongoing restoration projects at sites such as the Graeco-Roman Museum and Qaitbay Citadel, underscoring confidence that these initiatives will strengthen Alexandria’s cultural profile.
He also noted preparations for the Grand Egyptian Museum opening on 1 November, which will feature the presence of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and international dignitaries.
In his remarks, Governor Saeed described the exhibition as a cultural milestone, reinforcing Alexandria’s role as a historic bridge between East and West.
In May, Egypt started exploring plans to establish an underwater museum in Abu Qir Bay to showcase its submerged ancient cities, part of a broader strategy to transform sunken antiquities into a cultural tourism attraction.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly instructed officials to study the project’s feasibility and, within a month, present proposals for either developing underwater viewing facilities or recovering and exhibiting artefacts on land.
A cabinet statement noted that the proposed museum could be modelled on international examples featuring underwater access routes or focus on conventional museum displays of recovered treasures.
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