Wreck of a 2,000-year-old pleasure boat found off the coast of Egypt

Under Under Archaeologists announced Monday that they had found a 2,000-year-old Egyptian pleasure boat wreck off the coast of Alexandria.

The divers found the vessel vel, which was more than 11 meters long, 23 meters in diameter, placed in the port of the island of Antirhodos, the European Institute for underwater archeology (IASMM) said in a statement.

There was Greek graffiti on the container that “can be dated to the first half of the first century ad” and “supports the idea that the ship was built in Alexandria.”

The boat “would have had a luxuriously decorated cabin and appeared to have been rigged only with oars,” the Alexandria-based manufacturer added.

Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria in 331 BC. A series of earthquakes and tidal waves drove its island into the island of antirhodos, which was discovered in 1996.

Throughout the years, divers have found statues, coins and other treasures there, and some are displayed in the Greco-Roman museum in Alexandria.

Ieasm director Franck Goddio recently published a report on antirhodos and its temple of Isis, based on underwater tests in the 1990s.

“It’s very exciting because it’s the first time that such a boat has been found in Egypt,” the god told the guardian of the latest discovery. “Those boats were mentioned by ancient writers, such as Strabo, and they were also represented in iconography – for example, in the Palestrina Moseic, where you see many a boat hunting hippopotamus. But [an actual boat] never been found before. “

Researching the future of the newly discovered disaster “promises to be a fascinating journey into life, religion, wealth and water utility in ancient Roman Egypt,” the Institute said.

Alexandria is home to ancient ruins and historical treasures, but Egypt’s second largest city is at great risk from climate change and rising sea levels, sinking by more than three millimeters a year.

Even in the United Nations’ best case scenario, a third of Alexandria will be underwater or worthless by 2050.

Many shipwrecks have been found, including damage to Napoleon’s ships from the 1798 Battle of the Nile. Earlier this year, a well-preserved boat measuring about three meters in length was found by IASTM in the Eastern Port of Alexandria, according to a podcast posted by the Helpi Foundation.

In August, archaeologists announced that ancient scores, Roman coins and other artifacts from Alexandria were located he was dragged into the Mediterranean Sea.

Authorities say that the area may be an extension of the ancient city of Canopus, a prominent center during the Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt for about 300 years, and the Roman Empire, which ruled for about 600 years.

The announcement of the excitement of the discovery of the boat comes a few days after the archaeologists revealed it 225 Burial figures were found Inside a tomb in the ancient Egyptian capital of Tanis in the Nile Delta.