Treasures in a sunken ship in the Red Sea
Egypt, History, 7/30/2001

Trade relations are one of the most ancient in the whole world. Therefore, to get more information of the trade routes between Ancient Egypt, Rome and India, a team of British and American archaeological experts initiated an ambitious program to explore a sunken Roman ship in the Red Sea off the Egyptian coasts and specifically the Egyptian city of Qusair. This ship dates back to more than 2000 years.

The team hopes to find treasures of gold and silver aboard this ship. The experts believe that this ship sank immediately after leaving port in the period between the end of the 1st century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD.

They also believe that the ship belongs to the famous Roman Emperor Augustus whose troops occupied Egypt after defeating the joint forces of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra in the battle of Actium.

The remains of this ship were discovered 8 years ago. Archaeologists believe that the sands at the sea bed had preserved the ship from sea currents and thus, it was found in good condition.

They also have extracted a part of the cargo of the ship. This part included large contuines believed to be full of Italian wine, olive oil and possibly some ornaments, jewels and gold coins.

Working on this ship is estimated to take 4 years as it lies down a depth of 200 feet and thus a diver can remain there only for half an hour to spare any side effects of this huge depth.

Previous Stories:
  North coast excavations yield archaeological riches   (7/26/2001)
  July 23 rd revolution, turning point in Egyptian History   (7/23/2001)
  Construction of the High Dam   (7/23/2001)

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