Traces of a 2,000-year-old submerged city are lifted from the sea by cranes hoisting statues, pieces of ruins, and artifacts from an ancient Egyptian port.

Written by Romário Pereira de Carvalho

Published on 31/05/2026 at 11:32

Updated on 31/05/2026 at 11:33

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Cranes lifted statues from the waters of Abu Qir Bay, off the coast of Alexandria, where Egyptian authorities revealed ruins, artifacts, sphinxes, and an ancient pier linked to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods

Egypt has unveiled parts of a submerged city over 2,000 years old in Abu Qir Bay, off the coast of Alexandria, including buildings, artifacts, statues, and an ancient 125-meter pier. The site may be an extension of Canopus, an important center during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.

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Submerged city may be part of ancient Canopus

Egyptian authorities reported that the archaeological site is located in the waters of Abu Qir Bay and may be linked to the ancient city of Canopus. The region was significant during the Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years.

The area also remained relevant during the Roman period, which lasted about 600 years in the country. Over time, earthquakes and rising sea levels submerged the city and the neighboring port of Heracleion.

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125-meter pier reveals ancient port use

Among the finds are a merchant ship, stone anchors, and a port crane from the Ptolemaic and Roman eras.

The set was found at the site of a 125-meter pier, used as a port for small vessels until the Byzantine period.

The underwater ruins also include limestone constructions. They may have served as places of worship, residential areas, and commercial or industrial structures, according to information released by Egyptian authorities.

Cranes remove artifacts from the seabed — Image: Reproduction / Youtube

Statues and sphinxes were removed from the waters

On the occasion, cranes hoisted statues from the depths, with support from divers. The Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Sherif Fathi, stated that there is “a lot underwater,” but only specific materials will be removed.

Among the discoveries are statues of royal figures and sphinxes from the pre-Roman era. One of them is partially preserved and bears the cartouche of Ramses II, one of the most well-known pharaohs with the longest reign in ancient Egypt.

Part of the heritage will remain at the bottom of the sea

Many pieces are incomplete, including a decapitated Ptolemaic granite figure and the lower half of a marble portrait of a Roman noble.

Reservoirs and rock-carved lagoons were also found to store drinking water and raise fish.

Alexandria is home to ruins and historical treasures but faces risks related to rising sea levels. The coastal city sinks more than 3 mm per year, and in the best scenario predicted by the United Nations, one-third of it will be submerged or uninhabitable by 2050.

This article was prepared based on information provided in the base material about the revelation of the submerged archaeological site off the coast of Alexandria, with data, numbers, and statements preserved as per the consulted material.

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Traces of a 2,000-year-old submerged city are lifted from the sea by cranes hoisting statues, pieces of ruins, and artifacts from an ancient Egyptian port.

Cranes lifted statues from the waters of Abu Qir Bay, off the coast of Alexandria, where Egyptian authorities revealed ruins, artifacts, sphinxes, and an ancient pier linked to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods

Submerged city may be part of ancient Canopus

125-meter pier reveals ancient port use

Statues and sphinxes were removed from the waters

Part of the heritage will remain at the bottom of the sea

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Traces of a 2,000-year-old submerged city are lifted from the sea by cranes hoisting statues, pieces of ruins, and artifacts from an ancient Egyptian port.

Cranes lifted statues from the waters of Abu Qir Bay, off the coast of Alexandria, where Egyptian authorities revealed ruins, artifacts, sphinxes, and an ancient pier linked to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods

Submerged city may be part of ancient Canopus

125-meter pier reveals ancient port use

Statues and sphinxes were removed from the waters

Part of the heritage will remain at the bottom of the sea

In the cold desert of Ladakh, where it hardly rains, engineer Sonam Wangchuk created the ice stupa, a tower that freezes winter water and stores it for irrigating crops in the spring, a simple engineering feat that mimics nature.

Libya built over 4,000 kilometers of underground pipelines to bring water from the Sahara to coastal cities in a project that the government itself called the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Almost 6,000 residents live concentrated along a single street nearly 9 km long in the interior of Poland. Houses form a continuous row, and behind them, narrow agricultural strips emerge, creating one of the most unusual rural patterns in Europe.

Chinese woman planted trees for decades while sand buried part of her house, received $5,000 from an American in 1999, and helped transform the desert into a forest of 8 million trees in China.

Desert sand, previously discarded for being too smooth for concrete, becomes an ecological brick in the United Arab Emirates, dispensing with Portland cement, curing at room temperature, and attempting to transform dunes useless for construction into raw material for a new arid engineering.

Described by astronauts as one of the most unlikely natural phenomena on Earth, the Okavango Delta spreads over up to 15,000 square kilometers in the middle of the desert and transforms Botswana into a living labyrinth of channels, islands, and flooded areas.

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