Sunken treasure - divers recover the stunning artefacts of Cleopatra's palace

Divers in the waters off Alexandria today recovered stunning artefacts from the submerged ruins of a palace and temple complex belonging to Egyptian queen Cleopatra.
The international team is painstakingly excavating one of the richest underwater archaeological sites in the world, and retrieving amazing riches from the last dynasty to rule over ancient Egypt before the Roman Empire annexed it in 30BC.

Colossal discovery: This quartzite block has an engraving of a pharaoh, indicated by hieroglyphic inscriptions on the stone as Seti I, father of Ramses II

2,500 years old: A statuette of a boy pharaoh dating from the 5th century BC lies among other artefacts brought to the surface from an underwater excavation of a palace and temples of Cleopatra

Using advanced technology, the team is surveying ancient Alexandria's Royal Quarters, encased deep below the harbour sediment, and confirming the accuracy of descriptions of the city left by Greek geographers and historians more than 2,000 years ago.
Since the early Nineties the topographical surveys have allowed the team, led by French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio, to conquer the harbour's extremely poor visibility and excavate below the seabed.
They are discovering everything from coins and everyday objects to colossal granite statues of Egypt's rulers and sunken temples dedicated to their gods.

'It's a unique site in the world,' said Mr Goddio, who has spent two decades searching for shipwrecks and lost cities below the seas.
The finds from along the Egyptian coast will go on display at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute from June 5 to January 2 - in an exhibition titled Cleopatra: The Search For The Last Queen of Egypt.

Stunning find: Recently excavated artefacts are shown aboard the Princess Duda research boat, anchored in the harbour off Alexandria, Egypt. A team of divers using advanced technology is exploring the ruins

Fit for a queen: Stone plates are a mere fraction of the priceless statues, jewellery and artefacts being brought to the surface from one of the richest underwater archaeological sites in the world

Many archaeological sites have been destroyed by man, with statues cut or smashed to pieces.
Alexandria's Royal Quarters - ports, a cape and islands full of temples, palaces and military outposts - simply slid into the sea after cataclysmic earthquakes in the fourth and eighth centuries.
Mr Goddio's team found it in 1996. Many of its treasures are completely intact, wrapped in sediment protecting them from the salt water.

Under the sea: A diver inspects limestone blocks that form part of the ruins of the Temple of Isis on the royal island of Antirhodos. The structure slid under the sea as a result of a earthquake more than 1,000 years ago

'It's as it was when it sank,' said Ashraf Abdel-Raouf of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, who is part of the team.
Today's dive explored the sprawling palace and temple complex where Cleopatra, the last of Egypt's Greek-speaking Ptolemaic rulers, seduced the Roman general Mark Antony before they committed suicide upon their defeat by Octavian, the future Roman Emperor Augustus.
Dives have taken Mr Goddio and his team to some of the key scenes in the dramatic lives of the couple - including the Timonium, commissioned by Antony after his defeat as a place where he could retreat from the world, though he killed himself before it was completed.

Proud relic hunter: French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio shows a recently excavated bronze cult statue found in the Temple of Isis

They also found a colossal stone head believed to be of Caesarion, son of Cleopatra and previous lover Julius Caesar, and two sphinxes - one of them probably representing Cleopatra's father, Ptolemy XII.
Divers photographed a section of the seabed cleared of sediment, their flashlights glowing in the green murk, the divers photographed ruins from a temple to Isis near Cleopatra's palace on the submerged island of Antirhodos.
Among the massive limestone blocks toppled in the fourth century was a huge quartzite block with an engraving of a pharaoh. An inscription indicates it depicts Seti I, father of Ramses II.
'We've found many pharaonic objects that were brought from Heliopolis, in what is now Cairo,' said Mr Abdel-Raouf.
'So, the Ptolemaic rulers re-used pharaonic objects to construct their buildings.'
On the boat's deck, researchers displayed some small recent finds: imported ceramics and local copies, a statuette of a pharaoh, bronze ritual vessels, amulets barely bigger than a fingernail, and small lead vessels tossed by the poor into the water or buried in the ground as devotions to gods.
Alexandria's eastern harbour was abandoned after another earthquake, in the eighth century, and was left untouched as an open bay - apart from two 20th century breakwaters - while modern port construction went ahead in the western harbour. That has left the ancient Portus Magnus undisturbed below.
'We have this as an open field for archaeology,' Mr Goddio said.