Egypt, a very demanded tourist destination in North Africa, well known for its rich cultural and historical heritage with major attractions including the Pyramids of Giza, the Valley of Kings, the Nile Valley offering opportunities to explore ancient monuments and cruise along the river, vibrant cities like Cairo and its luxury Red Sea resorts is considering building an underwater museum to showcase sinken cities and ancient artefacts in Abu Qir Bay off Alexandria coast.
The North African country is exploring the possibility to create this special attraction to highlight underwater attractions likely in Abu Qir Bay near Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt located on the Mediterranean coast on the western edge of the Nile delta, historical centre founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great that grew rapidly and became a major centre of Hellenic civilisation, eventually replacing Memphis, in present day, Cairo and called the "Pearl of the Mediterranean Coast" or the "Bride of Mediterranean".
This strategic move aims to diversify and enhance the tourism offering with the objective to create either underwater viewing sites or recovering and exhibiting artefacts on land leveraging the cultural tourism potential of submerged sites.
Prime Minister Mosafa Madbouly instructed officials to asset the project's feasibility and present, within a month, a plan for either underwater viewing sites or the recovery and exhibition of artifacts on land.
During a cabinet meeting attended by the ministers of tourism and antiquities, defence officials, and heritage authorities the Prime Minister called for fast - tracking the vision, highlighting the untapped potential of Abu Qir Bay, lying between Rosetta mouth of the Nile and the town of Abu Qir where the ancient cities of Canopus, Hearcleion and Menouthis lie submerged beneath the Mediterranean waters.
According to a cabinet statement, the proposed museum could follow models in other countries with underwater access routes or focus on retrieving artefacts for conventional museum display.
Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy said a full proposal would be submitted within weeks, identifying which sites mighr be opened to divers amnd which are suitable for excavation, in accordance with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization of UNESCO regulations.
The Secretary - General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mohamed Ismail, said Egypt was working with UNESCO and other partners to study legal and technical frameworks for such a museum noting ongoing missions continue to uncover submerged sites.
The ruins of Heracleion and Canopus lie roughly 7.0 kilometres off Egypt's Mediterranean coast. Once thriving ports before Alexandria's founding in 331 BCE, they played key roles in regional trade, taxation and religious centres at the mouth of the Nile and they were submerged by a combination of natural disasters like earthquakes, subsidence and rising sea level and now lie beneath Abu Qir Bay.
Archaeologists believe they sank into the sea in 4th century BCE following a catastrophic event, though the exact cause remains unknown.
Excavations have revealed only in recent decades intricate details of these lost cities, including temple ruins, yielded statues, religious sanctuaries and other valuable artifacts.
In September 2023, an Egyptian – French team led by the European for Uderwater Archaeology discovered a sanctuary for Aphrodite and a cache of artifacts from the Amun Gerev Temple in Thonis - Heracleion dedicated to the god of the air, Amun,one of the eight primordial Egyptian deities.
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