Ancient 2,000-Year-Old Egyptian Pleasure Boat Found Off Alexandria’s Coast

Underwater archaeologists have discovered the 2,000-year-old wreck of an ancient Egyptian pleasure boat off the coast of Alexandria. The discovery was announced on Monday, 8 December, 2025.

Divers located the hull, measuring more than 115 feet (around 35 metres) long and 23 feet (around 7 metres) wide, submerged in the port of the island of Antirhodos, a once-prominent part of Alexandria’s royal harbour, Portus Magnus. The wreck was found about 7 metres underwater and 1.5 metres beneath layers of sediment.

The European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) confirmed that Greek graffiti was identified on the vessel. Researchers reported that the markings could date from the first half of the 1st century AD, supporting the belief that the ship was likely constructed in Alexandria.

Initial studies indicate the vessel had a luxuriously decorated cabin and appeared to have been propelled solely by oars, possibly requiring more than 20 rowers.

Archaeologists said the boat was built to operate in shallow waters and would have been used for leisure activities, ceremonial trips, or elite transport.

The IEASM said that although ancient authors, including Strabo, had described similar vessels, and depictions existed in iconography such as the Palestrina mosaic, no such boat had ever been physically discovered in Egypt before.

The excavation team suggested that the boat may have sunk during the destruction of the Temple of Isis around AD 50, when severe earthquakes and tidal waves struck Alexandria’s coastline.

The vessel was discovered amid collapsed temple columns and statues, indicating it could have gone down as the surrounding structures failed.

Antirhodos, founded into the history of Alexandria since its establishment by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, was submerged by a series of earthquakes and tidal waves in antiquity. The island, which was rediscovered in 1996, has since yielded numerous important finds.

Over the years, divers have recovered statues, coins and other treasures, many of which are displayed at Alexandria’s Greco-Roman Museum.

IEASM director Franck Goddio, who recently published a report on Antirhodos and its Temple of Isis, said in indirect remarks to The Guardian that the latest discovery marked the first time such a boat had been found in Egypt.

Multiple shipwrecks have been located in the bay, including remains from Napoleon’s fleet during the 1798 Battle of the Nile. Earlier this year, IEASM also discovered a well-preserved 20-foot boat in the city’s eastern harbour, according to information shared through a podcast by the Hilti Foundation.

In August, archaeologists retrieved ancient statues, Roman coins, and other artefacts from a nearby underwater site thought to be an extension of Canopus, a significant centre during the Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years, and later under the Roman Empire, which governed for around 600 years.

References: egyptianstreets, cbsnews