Overview

• Divers working in Abu Qir Bay identified artifacts underwater on August 22 as cranes hoisted large pieces ashore in a media‑observed operation.
• Recovered items include statues, coins, pottery and fragments of a merchant vessel with cargo traces such as nuts and a copper measuring scale.
• A sphinx bearing the cartouche of Ramses II was among the finds, alongside a granite Ptolemaic figure and part of a white marble Roman statue.
• Egyptian authorities date much of the trove to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods and say the evidence points to a prosperous hub likely tied to Canopus.
• Select pieces are under restoration for the Alexandria National Museum’s Secrets of the Sunken City exhibition, while most materials remain in situ under post‑UNESCO protections and ongoing study.