To the delight of archaeologists, an ancient Egyptian pleasure boat was discovered off the coast of Alexandria, matching the description of the 1st century Greek historian Strabo.
With its palaces, temples and the 130-metre tall Pharos Lighthouse – one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – Alexandria was one of the most magnificent cities of antiquity. The pleasure boat, dating from the first half of the 1st century, was 35 meters long and was built to house a central pavilion with a luxuriously decorated cabin.
It was discovered near the submerged island of Antirhodos, which was part of the ancient Portus Magnus (great port) of Alexandria.
Strabo visited the Egyptian city around 29-25. BC and wrote about such boats: “These ships are luxuriously equipped and are used by the royal court for excursions; and a crowd of revelers descending from Alexandria along the canal for public festivals; for every day and every night the boats are full of people who play the flute and dance without restraint and with extreme licentiousness.”
The excavations were carried out by the European Institute of Underwater Archeology (IEASM) under the direction of Frank Goddiovisiting professor of maritime archeology at the University of Oxford.
He told The Guardian: “It's extremely interesting because this is the first time such a boat has been discovered in Egypt… These boats were mentioned by various ancient authors such as Strabo, and they were also represented in some iconography – for example in the Palestrina mosaic, where you see a much smaller boat like this with nobles hunting hippos. But [an actual boat] has never been discovered before.”
Although this mosaic depicts a possibly 15-metre boat, this one is much larger, judging by the well-preserved logs, which are also about 7 meters wide. More than 20 rowers may have been required.
It lay only 7 meters under water and 1.5 meters under sediment. Goddio's initial guess was that the two ships were stacked on top of each other “because the type of construction was very strange.” He added: “The bow is flat… and the stern is round… so you can swim in very shallow water.”
Goddio's most ambitious projects were carried out off the coast of Egypt, in the eastern harbor of Alexandria and in the Gulf of Abu Qir. Since 1992, in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, he has explored a vast area.
In 2000, the ancient city of Thonis-Heraklion and parts of the city of Canopus were discovered in the Gulf of Abu Qir – one of the greatest archaeological finds of recent times. Two colossal statues of a Ptolemaic queen and king are among the impressive treasures that have been found so far.
In 2019, Goddio and his team discovered a sunken ship in the waters around them. Thonis-Heraklionwhose unusual details matched the description of another ancient Greek historian, Herodotus.
The latest discovery is less than 50 meters from the temple of Isis that Goddio was excavating. He believes the boat may have sunk during the catastrophic destruction of the temple around 50 AD.
After a series of earthquakes and tidal waves, Portus Magnus and part of the ancient coastline sank underwater, swallowing palaces and other buildings.
Another theory is that the boat could be a sacred barge attached to a temple. Goddio said: “It could be… [been] part of a naval ceremony navigation when the procession celebrates [the goddess] Isis encountered a richly decorated ship – the Navigium, which personified the solar boat of Isis, the mistress of the sea.”
Graffiti in Greek was discovered on the central Carling and has not yet been deciphered.
Although research into the wreck is still in its early stages, it promises to reveal new insights into “life, religion, luxury and pleasure on the waterways of early Roman Egypt,” Goddio said.
The latest scientific results from the excavations of the Temple of Isis were recently published by the Oxford Center for Marine Research. Archeology.
Professor Damian Robinson, director of the centre, said of the new discovery: “This is a type of ship that has never been found before. While we can read about cabin boats in ancient texts and see them in artistic records, it is phenomenal to have an archaeological correlate.”
The debris will remain on the seabed. Goddio said: “We follow the rules of UNESCO, which believes that it is better [leave] remains under water.”
Only a small part of the territory has been explored. Excavations are planned to be resumed.
