Canub's statue to be lifted from the sea and displayed in Alex's Graeco -Roman

The story of finding the statue goes back to 1998 while the French team of excavators was surveying the eastern harbour in search for artifacts.

The news of finding a rare black basalt statue sparked in the circle of archaeologists.

The surprise, however, was that the two- meter tall masterpiece that weighs about one ton was found intact.

It just needed cleansing from the aquatic creatures covering its body.

The statue was indeed lifted out of the water and cleaned, but was returned again until further notice.

It is only this year that the SCA has approved to have the piece displayed within a month from now at the Graeco-Roman museum.

The statue shows a roman priest wearing priesthood outfit carrying in his hand Canub goddess worshiped in old Canub.

The statue as Ahmed Abdul Fatah director of the museum explains, signifies the existence of the temple of Canub within the area of the old city i.e. the current eastern harbour.

'The area that was part of the royal quarters in the Graeco-roman age abounded in luxurious temples, 'he said.

Meanwhile, the Restoration Department of Alexandria has completed the restoration of a wooden statue of god Sarabis available at the Graeco roman museum.

The statue is one of the unique items representing this god as it is made of sycamore wood.

According to Amira Abu Bakr of the Restoration Department the artifact was in a decaying condition.

The pores of the wood had to be filled with an insulating layer. "Work required special care and accuracy to preserve the 140cms high statue," she said.

The statue, found in the 1930s in an archaeological site in Fayyum represented the main cult in the roman age.

The statue, as old as the first century ad was covered with a layer of gypsum when first unearthed.

"It was, however, gilded by the sculptor who carved it giving it an awesome appearance," he said.

Abu Bakr said that the statue would be displayed in a special showcase highlighted by spotlights.

The restoration of the statue comes in line with the short coming plan to upgrade the Graeco-roman museum, deemed one of the major display facilities in Egypt.