Presentation of the department
The Submerged Antiquities Section displays some of the
artifacts discovered in the Eastern Harbor of Alexandria and at the Bay
of Abukir, where once existed the cities of Thonis-Heracleion, Canopus
and Menouthis. The collection encompasses beside coins, jewels and
amphorae, a unique collection of statues and statue fragments which
reveal the foreign influences on Egyptian art. One of the remarkable
examples is a black basalt statue theoretically attributed to a
Ptolemaic Queen, probably Arsinoe II.
These artifacts were brought to light, thanks to the Franck Goddio team, who works in conjunction with the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Goddio, Director of the European Institute of Underwater Archeology (IEASM), has began the marine excavations in Alexandria since 1992.
These artifacts were brought to light, thanks to the Franck Goddio team, who works in conjunction with the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Goddio, Director of the European Institute of Underwater Archeology (IEASM), has began the marine excavations in Alexandria since 1992.
The Submerged City Rediscovered
The dream of finding sunken antiquities under the water returns back
to the beginnings of the 20th. Century, since 1910, the French naval
engineer "Jondet" was imposed to make enlargements for the western
harbor in Alexandria, where there were found sunken establishments which
appeared to look like ancient harbor sidewalks to the west of the
Pharos island. In the year 1933, chance played an important role in the
discovery of the first site of sunken antiquities in Egypt, at the site
of Abo-kir to the east of Alexandria; this was discovered by a pilot in
the British Air forces, who reported to the prince "Omar Tusson" who was
known for his passion for antiquities, and who was a member of The
Royal Antiquities Association in Alexandria then, who carried out
financing the process of searching which emanated the find of a head of
marble belonging to Alexander The Great, which is on display now in the
Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria.
During the sixties a professional diver who had passion for
antiquities called Kamel Abo-Al Sa'adat prepared two maps for the sunken
antiquities, the first was for the eastern harbor, while the second was
for the bay of Abo-kir. He also cooperate along with the Egyptian navy
to take some of his finds out to light at the position of the lighthouse
in April and November of the year 1962 successively. While the utmost
of those trials is what was made in the mid. 80s when the French Navy in
cooperation with the Egyptian Antiquities Corporation, studied together
the site where Napoleon's fleet had sunken and took some of its remains
out to light, also the position of "The Patriot" ship was located.
By the beginning of the 90s interested expeditions came to Egypt, and
they started the search, excavation and the quest for the sunken
antiquities in Egypt, where the position of The Qaitbay Fortress which
covers the area of 22.500 m2 is considered to be the most important
among all other sites, that’s because it alone contains more than 3000
architectural piece.
The European Institute of Sunken Antiquities then swabbed entirely
the site of the eastern harbor in the year 1992; this produced the exact
Topographical map of the sunken antiquities in that harbor, which
proved that there existed many ancient harbors within the recent eastern
harbor.
The quest for the Egyptian sunken antiquities ended in the year 2005
by the French explorer "Franck Goddio", also a big collection of these
antiquities was found in the year 2000 at the empty city of
"Hieraklieon", which was partially discovered by Omar Tusson in the year
1934.
The European institute then re-discovered the site, but concerning
the sunken fleet of Napoleon at the bay of Abo-kir, Abo-Al Sa'adat
managed to locate seven locations for the sunken fleet besides the
island of Nelson in the year 1966; later the French expedition
"Napoleon" joined him by the command of Jacques Dumas in the year 1983,
this expedition managed to bring out sunken parts of the fleet by the
help of The French and The Egyptian Navy.
Egypt’s Underwater Antiquities Tour the World
The Minister of Culture agreed to launch a world tour in several
European cities to showcase artifacts bearing the thoughts and feelings
of ancient man, and to reveal to the world a legendary historical part
of ancient Egyptian civilization.
The exhibition included 489 rare pieces from the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum, Alexandria National Museum, Greco-Roman Museum, underwater antiquities warehouses and the Restoration Lab in Alexandria.
The exhibition included 489 rare pieces from the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum, Alexandria National Museum, Greco-Roman Museum, underwater antiquities warehouses and the Restoration Lab in Alexandria.