22 stone blocks alexandria ancient lighthouse seafloor 1234746900
A team from the French National Center for Scientific Research has lifted 22 massive stone blocks from the Lighthouse of Alexandria from the seafloor, 30 years after the remains were first discovered in Egypt. The blocks include monumental door lintels, jambs weighing 70 to 80 tons, a threshold, large base slabs, and parts of a previously unknown pylon with an Egyptian-style door from the Hellenistic period. Each block will be scanned and studied to add to a digital collection of over 100 blocks already digitized, aiming to construct a virtual model of the lighthouse. The excavation was supervised by archaeologist Isabelle Hairy and conducted under the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, with support from La Fondation Dassault Systèmes and French documentary company GEDEON Programmes, which filmed the work for a 90-minute documentary.