Ancient Egyptian pleasure boat found off Alexandria coast

Underwater archaeologists announced Monday they have discovered the 2,000-year-old wreck of an ancient Egyptian pleasure boat off the coast of Alexandria, marking the first time such a vessel has been found in Egypt.cbsnews+4

The vessel, measuring more than 115 feet long and about 23 feet wide, was found submerged near the island of Antirhodos by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM), according to a statement from the Alexandria-based institute. Greek graffiti on the vessel dating from the first half of the first century A.D. supports the hypothesis that the ship was built in Alexandria.newarab+2

A Discovery Matching Ancient Accounts

"It's extremely exciting because it's the first time ever that such a boat has been discovered in Egypt," Franck Goddio, director of IEASM and visiting professor of maritime archaeology at the University of Oxford, told The Guardian. "Those boats were mentioned by different ancient authors, like Strabo, and they were also represented in some iconography—for example, in the Palestrina mosaic, where you see such a boat of a much smaller size with noblemen hunting hippopotamuses. But [an actual boat] has never been discovered before."cbsnews+2

The find validates descriptions by the first-century Greek historian Strabo, who visited Alexandria around 29-25 B.C. and wrote of luxuriously outfitted vessels used by the royal court for excursions. According to Strabo, "every day and every night is crowded with people on the boats who play the flute and dance without restraint and with extreme licentiousness."theguardian+2

Excavation Details and Future Research

The boat, which would have featured a luxuriously decorated cabin and appears to have been propelled solely by oars, was discovered just seven meters beneath the water and 1.5 meters under sediment. The well-preserved wooden structure likely required more than 20 rowers to operate.archaeology+2

Goddio initially thought there might be two vessels stacked on one another due to the unusual construction style, with a flat bow and rounded stern that allowed it to navigate very shallow waters. The wreck lies less than 50 meters from the Temple of Isis, which Goddio has been excavating on Antirhodos. He speculates the boat may have sunk during the temple's destruction around 50 A.D., when earthquakes and tidal waves submerged parts of the ancient coastline.theguardian+2

Future research on the wreck "promises to be a fascinating journey into the life, religion, wealth and waterway pleasures of ancient Roman Egypt," the institute said. The wreck will remain on the seabed in accordance with UNESCO regulations.unn+2