Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost Worlds

The British Museum show "Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost Worlds" is sponsored by BP, and is its first exhibition on underwater archaeology. The exhibition features Egypt's sunken coastal cities of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus. The show runs for six months and includes 300 artifacts on display, 200 of which are from the excavations. The excavations have been conducted by the underwater archaeological team of Frank Goddio at the mouth of the Nile near Alexandria between 1996 to 2012.


The two cities disappeared beneath the Mediterranean around the ninth century of the common era. The excavations have resulted in a wealth of impressive finds from the undisturbed cities. Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus were founded in the seventh century BC, and in their prime during the period of the Ptolemaic Dynasty when Greek rulers dominated from Alexandria the Egyptian peoples. The exhibition includes a beautifully preserved royal stela of the 30th Dynasty Pharaoh Nectanebo I, and a colossal statue of the Nile god Hapi.
The exhibition Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost Worlds runs from May 19 to November 27

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Photo: British Museum