Archaeologists pull 2000-year-old statues from Egyptian bay
Archaeologists and divers worked together to retrieve statues, Roman coins and other relics from the Mediterranean seabed in Alexandria, Egypt on Thursday.
Ancient artefacts on display after they were lifted out of the water in Abu Qir Bay at the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
Among the finds were a headless statue, a sphinx and an unknown priest figure.
Antiquities workers prepare to place one of the ancient artefacts, an unknown priest statue, on the beach after it is lifted out of the water.
Seawater can slow down certain types of decay by producing a low-oxygen environment.
Seawater can cause other types of deterioration, like salt crystallisation.
The ancient artefacts were on display after they were lifted out of the water.
They included four stone statues.
An ancient artefact, an unknown headless statue, is lifted out of the water in Abu Qir Bay at the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
There are dozens of underwater archaeological sites in the bay.
The sites in the bay are believed to be ancient cities that were submerged by earthquakes and rising sea levels over the past 2000 years.
It's not clear which sites specifically these artifacts came from.
This statue is believed to be showing a Sphinx.
There are remains of entire cities in the bay, with Canopus and Thonis-Heracleion the most well-known sunken cities.
These small figures were also pulled from the water.
They are so well preserved that we can still see the carvings of the gowns in the stone.
Divers lift, an unknown statue showing Sphinx, out of the water.
This is not the first time statues have been pulled from the bay.
Dozens of others have been pulled from the water.
The bay has also provided incredible discoveries like a fully preserved fruit basket from the 4th century BC, ceramics and pottery and other large statues.
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