Sunken Egyptian treasures reveal lost cities
- Published
The Egyptian ruins of two long forgotten, ancient cities were located in Aboukir Bay in the Egyptian Nile Delta. These stone fragments don't look like much more than a fun place for fish to hang out - but underwater archaeologists discovered some astonishing treasures hidden below the surface.
Around the 7th Century BC the cities of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus sat opposite each other on separate islands in the Egyptian Delta - a large area to the north of Egypt where the Nile spreads out before it drains in to the Mediterranean sea.
By the 8th century AD, the sea had reclaimed the cities of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus and they lay hidden below the seabed for centuries. This smiling statue being hoisted from the sea bed is the god Hapy who symbolised the flooding of the Nile.
A diver discovers a statue of Osiris. The god Osiris represents regeneration. The decoration on the statue represents water, the source of life.
An archaeologist diver using a brush to clear away sand to reveal a bovid jaw discovered under 2.5 cm of sand on the site of Canopus. Bovid are an animal similar to bison and buffalo.
Diver archaeologists pose beside a large vat thought to have originally been located in a garden.
This stone tablet, called a stele, was found on the site of Thonis-Heracleion. It is inscribed with the decree of Saϊs.
This stone tablet, called a stele, was hoisted from the water in a remarkable state of preservation. The treasure has gone on display at the British Museum in London.
- Published1 October 2015
- Published11 August 2015
- Published11 May 2015
