Monument Lifted from Cleopatra’s Underwater City in the Mediterranean Sea
ALEXANDRIA.- Egyptian archeologists have lifted out of the Mediterranean Sea an ancient granite temple pylon from the palace complex of Cleopatra, submerged in the waters of Alexandria’s harbor.
Divers and underwater archeologists used a giant crane and ropes to lift the 9-ton, 7.4-foot-tall pylon from the murky waters Thursday.
The tower was originally part of the entrance to a temple of Isis, a pharaonic goddess of fertility and magic. The temple is believed to have been near the palace that belonged to the 1st century BC Queen Cleopatra in the ancient city of Alexandria, submerged in the sea centuries ago.
- A sunken red granite tower, part of a pylon of the Isis temple is extracted out of the Mediterranean Sea off the archaeological eastern harbor of Alexandria, Egypt Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009. Egyptian archeologists have lifted a major artifact out of the Mediterranean Sea in an elaborate effort to highlight ancient treasures buried under water off the harbor in Alexandria. It is intended to be the centerpiece of a planned underwater museum Egypt hopes will draw tourists to its northern coast, often overshadowed by hotspots such as Luxor, the Giza pyramids and Red Sea beaches
The pylon is to be the centerpiece of a planned underwater museum featuring relics uncovered from the Mediterranean seabed.
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