Egypt pulls relics of 2,000-year-old sunken city from deep sea near Alexandria
Egypt on Thursday unveiled new finds from a submerged archaeological site off Alexandria, hoisting statues and architectural fragments from Abu Qir Bay that authorities say may be an extension of the ancient city of Canopus.
The operation revealed buildings, artefacts, and a dock dating back over 2,000 years, spanning Egypt’s Ptolemaic and Roman eras. According to Agence France-Presse, as reported by The Guardian, divers who helped locate the items watched from shore as cranes lifted them to the surface.
The newly documented remains include limestone structures interpreted as places of worship, residences, and commercial or industrial spaces. Archaeologists also identified reservoirs and rock-carved ponds used for domestic water storage and fish cultivation, offering clues to how the coastal community managed resources before earthquakes and rising seas pushed it underwater, along with the nearby port of Heracleion.
Among the most striking discoveries are statues of royal figures and sphinxes from the pre-Roman period, including a partially preserved sphinx engraved with the cartouche of Ramesses II. Many pieces are fragmentary: a beheaded Ptolemaic figure in granite and the lower half of a Roman nobleman carved in marble were among those recovered.
Maritime evidence includes a merchant ship, stone anchors, and what officials described as a harbour crane, clustered near a 125-metre dock that the antiquities ministry said served as a harbour for small boats until the Byzantine period.
Strict recovery under UNESCO rules
Today’s retrieval marks Egypt’s first underwater excavation under the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathi underscored the cautious approach. In the original report, he says, “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.”
Many of the artefacts now ashore are being restored for a special exhibition, “Secrets of the Sunken City,” at the Alexandria National Museum, and officials are discussing a permanent gallery or even an underwater museum.
A layered seascape in Abu Qir Bay
Abu Qir Bay is a dense archaeological and industrial landscape. In addition to the Canopus sector, its seafloor holds the submerged cities of Heracleion (also known as Thonis) and Menouthis, traces of the Canopic branch of the Nile, and a natural gas field. The finds connect millennia of settlement and trade with modern energy infrastructure, showing how the coastline has shifted through natural forces and human activity.
Alexandria’s sinking coast raises the stakes
Alexandria’s vulnerability adds urgency to the work. The city is subsiding by more than 3 millimetres a year, and even in the United Nations’ best-case climate scenario, a third of the metropolis could be underwater or uninhabitable by 2050.
Local infrastructure is already under stress: a recent study indicates annual building collapses have risen from about one a decade ago to around 40, a surge linked to saltwater intrusion, ground subsidence, and erosion. The shoreline retreats roughly 3.5 metres yearly, threatening ancient and modern structures.
In response, authorities have launched an Anticipatory Flood Management initiative with Dutch partners, combining early-warning systems, upgraded drainage, and new coastal protections to reduce flood and storm impacts.
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Egypt pulls relics of 2,000-year-old sunken city from deep sea near Alexandria