Temple to Greek Goddess Aphrodite Found in Sunken City in Alexandria

A joint Egyptian-French archaeological mission between the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the European Institute of Marine Archaeology has discovered a temple to the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, during underwater excavations in the sunken city of Thonis Heracleion, which lay in the depths of Abu Qir Bay in Alexandria.

The mission found bronze and ceramic goods imported from Greece inside the temple of Aphrodite, in addition to remains of wooden beams that supported the building, which date back to the fifth century BC.

The mission also discovered a storage area for precious items and offerings for the Western Temple of Amun, an important Egyptian god in the New Kingdom. The area included a collection of golden jewellery, including earrings in the shape of a lion’s head, a wadjet eye, a pendant, and alabaster utensils used to store perfumes and cosmetic ointments. The archaeologists also found a set of silver ritual dishes used in religious and funerary rituals, a votive handle made of limestone, and a duck-shaped bronze jug.

The sunken city of Thonis Heracleion is located 7 kilometres from the coast of Abu Qir, and was considered the largest port of Egypt’s Mediterranean coast before Alexander the Great founded Alexandria, and earthquakes caused the city to fall completely into the sea.