The relics of a sunken ship and a number of amphoras (pottery vessels) that date back to the 3rd century BC were discovered off the Mediterranean shore at Alamein, some 110km west of Alexandria. The Egyptian archaeological mission affiliated to the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) discovered the sunken antiquities while on a diving survey task some 650 metres offshore Alamein.
News of the discovery were announced by Mustafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the SCA, who talked about the significance of Alamein and Egypt’s North Coast in general during the third BC century, citing the presence of several ports in the area.
Remains of the sunken ship, together with the hundreds of amphoras, were found pivoted on the edge of an island that had drowned in the sea. Ayman Ashmawi, head of the Egyptian antiquities sector at the SCA, said that the ship’s hull had probably hit the tip of the drowned island, causing the ship to sink. The amphoras, he explained, which came from Rhodes, were used for storage and transport of wine.
Dr Waziri explained that, during the Greek and Roman eras, there existed some 30 villages, towns, and ports on the north coast of Egypt. They were ports of call for ships from North Africa and southern Europe to Alexandria. Cargoes included wine, olives and grain.
Islam Selim, head of the Central Department of Sunken Antiquities, said the mission has documented the finds in 3D imaging. “We are now studying how to preserve them or remove them from the site,” he said.
The SCA was tipped off to the site of the sunken ship by Hussein Musharrafa, the owner of a private marine survey firm that was working in the area.
Watani International
8 August 2023