Egyptian Authorities Recover Priceless Artifacts From 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City Near Alexandria

Archaeologists have recently uncovered remarkable treasures from a 2,000-year-old submerged city off the coast of Abu Qir Bay near Alexandria, Egypt, believed to be part of the ancient city of Canopus. Excavations have revealed statues including a quartzite sphinx bearing the cartouche of Ramesses II, a granite colossus from the late Ptolemaic era, and a white marble statue of a Roman nobleman, alongside temples, residential buildings, industrial areas, and a commercial dock with a merchant shipwreck. The city sank due to natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, with many structures left underwater to preserve archaeological integrity. These findings provide new insights into life during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods and highlight the vulnerability of present-day Alexandria to rising sea levels and subsidence. The site is being excavated carefully under UNESCO’s guidelines to protect underwater cultural heritage. This discovery underscores the rich history submerged beneath the Mediterranean and serves as a cautionary tale about coastal civilization fragility.