Ancient artefacts from the sunken city of Canopus, submerged off the coast of Alexandria, have been recovered for the first time in 25 years. During a three-day underwater heritage event (19-21 August), archaeologists lifted limestone structures, a quartz sphinx bearing cartouches of Ramses II, and a white marble statue of a Roman nobleman from the Mediterranean. The operation was led by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, with French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio playing a key role. The finds are now on display in the exhibition 'Secrets of the Sunken City' at the Alexandria National Museum.
The recovery matters because it sheds new light on Canopus, a major Ptolemaic and Roman port that was destroyed by earthquakes, tsunamis, and rising sea levels millennia ago. The artefacts offer rare insights into ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman history, and the exhibition makes them accessible to the public for the first time in decades. Additionally, Egyptologist Stephen Harvey notes that the ongoing sea level rise threatening coastal heritage—including Alexandria itself—makes such underwater archaeology increasingly urgent as a record of lost civilizations.