Last week, Abu Qir Bay on the Mediterranean Sea near Alexandria was alive with anticipation. A giant crane towered over the sea, its steel arm poised above the waters and cables dipping into the depths where diver-archaeologists were working in silence, signalling carefully from beneath the waves.
On the sands, people were watching every signal, splash, and subtle move of the crane’s cables, as journalists and photographers were anxious to catch the first glimpse of what would happen. On the prepared platform on the shore, archaeologists in white gowns, gloves, and masks stood at the ready, waiting for the submerged monuments to come out of the sea.
From beneath the waves, the dark outline of an enormous statue began to rise, shedding seawater as it broke the surface. Murmurs spread among the crowd, followed by applause that filled the air. History, long hidden in the depths, was rising before the crowd’s eyes.
A massive quartz sphinx inscribed with the cartouche of King Ramses II appeared followed by a granite statue of a yet-unidentified figure from the Ptolemaic period with missing neck and knees and an elegant white marble statue depicting a Roman nobleman.
These artefacts all come from the coastal front of a sunken city submerged beneath the waters of Abu Qir Bay, including residential buildings, religious structures, water cisterns, fish-breading basins, shipwrecks, and ancient docks that date back to the Byzantine, Roman and Greek periods in Egypt’s history.
“The evidence suggests that this newly uncovered area may represent an extension of the ancient city of Canopus, a major centre during the Ptolemaic Dynasty which ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years and later under the Roman Empire which governed for some 600 years. Alternatively, it could be the remains of a smaller town known as Taposiris-Parva, which was gradually destroyed over time,” said Mohamed Abdel-Meguid, a senior archaeologist at the Underwater Antiquities Department of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).
Taposiris Parva is mentioned by the ancient Greek geographer Strabo in his account of the road between Alexandria and Canopus. He wrote that the young people of Alexandria would celebrate feasts in the neighbourhood of the city, and it is also known for its association with the god Osiris as it had a large temple dedicated to him that was destroyed during the fifth century during the Christian period.
“The discoveries off Abu Qir Bay are remarkable, not just for their scale, but for the story they tell of a city that lived, thrived, and adapted across centuries,” said Mohamed Ismail Khaled, secretary-general of the SCA.
He explained that the findings show a continuous habitation and cultural presence across multiple eras spanning the Pharaonic, Ptolemaic, Roman, Byzantine, and even Islamic periods.
Among the most striking finds are the remains of limestone buildings, some believed to have served as religious, residential, commercial, or industrial purposes, along with cisterns lined with baked brick for water storage. A limestone tomb from the Ptolemaic period confirms the area’s use as a burial ground, while fish-breeding basins carved directly into the natural rock near the shore point to early aquaculture practices.
“Noblemen at that time used the natural sea-rocks along the shore and transformed them into basins for fish-breading,” said Abdel-Meguid, noting that the basins represented a complete architectural design.
One of the most significant discoveries, he said, was a naval slipway, suggesting facilities for hauling vessels in and out of the water, complemented by an archaeological quay stretching 125 metres along the site’s northern edge, evidence of a busy harbour once alive with small craft.
“Even the submerged building extensions tell us a story,” Abdel-Meguid added. “They reflect centuries of land subsidence and the gradual rise of sea levels, which eventually consumed the city.”
The artefacts retrieved from the site paint an equally vivid picture of daily life and long-distance exchange. Royal statues and sphinxes, among them one bearing the cartouche of Ramses II, attest to ancient Egyptian royal influence and symbolism, while a marble figure of a Roman noblemen draped in a pallium provides a rare glimpse into Roman intellectual and cultural life in Egypt.
The seabed has also yielded a merchant ship laden with walnuts and almonds, a sign of the site’s role as a thriving port, as well as Olynthian millstones, a non-rotary grinding stone uncommon in Egypt, which shed light on technological and cultural exchanges during the Greek and Roman eras.
Ushabtis (funerary figurines) and stone anchors further underline the city’s funerary traditions and maritime character.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS: Perhaps most telling are the everyday objects such as amphora handles stamped with merchant seals, coins from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, along with a Byzantine coin, and even Islamic-era finds such as a clay pipe and part of a balance weight found at the site.
Together with pottery vessels and dishes, they reveal a community that was not only active in trade but also deeply rooted in domestic life.
“These finds highlight intensive human activity, a city that was never static,” Abdel-Meguid said. “From worship and commerce to fishing and shipbuilding, this was a living, breathing hub of Mediterranean culture.”
“There are more monuments still lying underwater, but what we are able to recover is limited,” said Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy.
“Only specific pieces are lifted according to strict scientific criteria, while the rest will remain at their original location as part of Egypt’s sunken heritage to preserve their historical value and integrity.”
The minister stressed that the discovery carries a powerful message to the world, highlighting Egypt as a great nation, fully capable of safeguarding its ancient heritage while strengthening its position as a leading global destination.
He pointed out that this commitment is already evident in the country’s success in drawing nearly 15.8 million visitors last year, with continued efforts underway to welcome even more in the near future.
“The recovery of these artefacts represents a pivotal step in a national project adopted by the Egyptian state to develop Abu Qir Bay,” said Mohamed Ismail Khaled, emphasising the long-term vision behind the effort.
He explained that the archaeological mission has worked tirelessly beneath the surface of the sea, uncovering both immovable and movable structures that had lain hidden for centuries. These structures may have been claimed by sudden geological shifts or earthquakes that caused them to sink into the Mediterranean.
The discoveries, he asserted, were not the achievement of one institution alone. “It reflects the scale of cooperation and integration among different state bodies working together to protect and preserve Egypt’s unique heritage,” he noted.
Work at Abu Qir, he promised, is also far from over. “We will continue our underwater excavations at the site, and we expect to reveal even more of Abu Qir’s secrets. Among them is a shipwreck that we will announce in the near future, once excavation and scientific study are complete.”
Abu Qir Bay is home to the remains of the sunken city-ports of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus, almost 7 km from the present coast of Abu Qir, uncovered by an Egyptian-French archaeological mission in 2000 led by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM).
The two bustling ancient Egyptian cities were known throughout the ancient world as centres of power, wealth, trade, and artistry three centuries before the establishment of Alexandria.
They had stood at the mouth of the westernmost Canopic branch of the Nile, once a main path for trading from the seventh century BCE onwards before it silted up. The branch was once wide enough to allow the navigation of sea vessels from the Mediterranean world to reach other ancient Egyptian cities.
Thonis-Heracleion was for centuries the largest port of Egypt on the Mediterranean before Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 331 BCE.
Several earthquakes, followed by tidal waves which triggered land liquefaction, caused a 110 square km portion of the Nile Delta to collapse under the Sea, taking with it the city of Thonis-Heracleion. The cataclysm in the mid-second century BCE destroyed the Temple to the god Amun Gereb where the Pharaohs had come to receive from the supreme god of the ancient Egyptian pantheon the titles of their power as universal kings.
The nearby city of Canopus drew pilgrims from across the Mediterranean, particularly for rites dedicated to the god Osiris. Artefacts from these cities attest to the range of human experience in this ancient land, and visitors can still gain insight into Egypt’s powerful Ptolemaic Kingdom, the Graeco-Egyptian blending of cultures, and the god Osiris, who figured prominently in everyday life, from them today.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 28 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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