Sunken Cities: Egypt’s lost worlds to launch at the British Museum

The BP exhibition Sunken Cities: Egypt’s lost worlds will open in May 2016 and will be the British Museum’s first major exhibition of underwater archaeology.

Sunken Cities: Egypt’s lost worlds will tell the story of two lost Egyptian cities and their recent rediscovery beneath the Mediterranean seabed. 

It will run for six months and will show how the exploration of the cities Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus – submerged at the mouth of the River Nile for over a thousand years – helps us understand the relationship between ancient Egypt and the Greek world.

Featuring 200 historic finds excavated off the coast of Egypt between 1996 and 2012, the exhibition brings together 300 objects.

The display will reveal how cross-cultural exchange and religion flourished – particularly the worship of Osiris, the Egyptian god of the afterlife, and how a pioneering European team led by Franck Goddio used up-to-date technologies in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry to discover the treasures that will be on show.

Also featured will be monumental sculptures such as Hapy, one of the four sons of Horus who was portrayed as a mummy with the head of a baboon.
Visitors can also learn about the arrival of Greeks in Egypt and how they were  controlled by the Pharaohs.

Frank Goddio, president of Institut Européen d’Archéologie Sous-Marine (IEASM) and exhibition curator commented, “My team and I, as well as the Hilti Foundation, are delighted that the exhibition with discoveries from our underwater archaeological expeditions off the coast of Egypt will be on display at the British Museum. It enables us to share with the public the results of years of work at the sunken cities and our fascination for ancient worlds and civilisations.

“Placing our discoveries alongside selected masterpieces from the collections of Egyptian museums, complemented by important objects from the British Museum, the exhibition presents unique insights into a fascinating period in history during which Egyptians and Greeks encountered each other on the shores of the Mediterranean.”

Tickets are £16.50 and group rates are available.

For more information visit www.britishmuseum.org.