Discovering Sunken Cities: Egypt’s lost worlds
If you’ve heard of Aboukir Bay before, the chances are you’re something of a history geek – specifically a British naval history geek, as Lord Nelson famously won a resounding victory over Napoleon’s navy at the Battle of the Nile here in 1798.
But it’s what lies hidden beneath those waters which should make Aboukir Bay famous: two lost Egyptian cities called Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus, painstakingly uncovered by marine archaeologists over the past 20 years and now the subject of an exhibition at the British Museum called Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost Worlds.
review visit*
Fittingly for me, as my love of Ancient Egypt started in that very museum as a child, when a student Egyptologist explained some of the mysteries of hieroglyphics to me. I’ve already started to introduce Minnie to the world of mummies (not least a mummified crocodile) on our first visit this year.
So when I was invited along to see the exhibition yesterday before the official opening today, I had cleared my diary and RSVPed to say yes in seconds.
Stepping in to the exhibition gallery, all blue light and underwater soundtrack to transport you to these submerged worlds, it took a few minutes to remember that I didn’t have a three-year-old to think of. A short way into the introductory video, the mum part of my brain alerted me that I’d need to start moving on soon before her attention span wavered.
Except this time, I could linger as long as I wanted. Thankfully, because it was enthralling. The two coastal cities had become the stuff of legend, forgotten after they sank beneath the waves by the 8th century.
In 1933, an RAF commander flying out of the nearby British base saw what looked like the ruins of a city beneath the waves in the bay, uncovering some marble columns and statues.
But it wasn’t until more than half a century later when archaeologist Franck Goddio, drawn to the area by the French warships at the bottom of the sea, started his project to find the lost cities.
The work is so painstaking that only 5% of the 40 square mile area has been properly excavated and explored, so even the treasures on display are a fraction of what might still be submerged.
And treasures they are, painting a picture of Egypt after the time of the great pharaohs but before the Romans turned their sights on the country, through the years before Alexander the Great’s invasion and the Ptolemaic dynasty.
Two great trading cities, on the edge of Egypt and the ancient Greek empire, Thonis-Heracleion in particular was a multicultural port where two cultures co-existed and mixed.
The exhibition traces the similarities the two cultures found – and created – between their pantheon of gods, as well as the way later conquerors with their own Greek and Macedonian backgrounds managed to adopt the essentials of Egyptian myth and ritual to take their place as pharaohs.
As you walk around, it’s no dusty dry retelling of how these cities changed and endured over the centuries though. Firstly, there’s video dotted around of the excavations themselves, watching experts uncover lost artefacts preserved in the silt and restore them.
Then, of course, those wonderful pieces are on display. Impressive statues which would have guarded the harbour to welcome traders or to remind the people of the power and glory of the pharaoh, carvings of the gods including a beautiful representation of one queen as Isis, portraying her as more than royal, as a goddess.
There’s a wonderful section on the mysteries of Osiris too, the rituals surrounding the life, death and rebirth of the god and his very complicated family relationships, as well as the unique finds from the cities – a barge which would have been used to transport recreations of the god, even ladles used during the ceremony.
Another stele, carved with hieroglyphics and ancient Greek revealed the answer to another mystery: that the lost cities of Thonis and Heracleion were one and the same place. And that’s just a taste.
It’s worth saying that there are also some activities which would be great for kids as you wander around – looking at hieroglyphics with a torch, working out the different Greek and Egyptian gods – but unless you have a mini Egyptologist, it’s probably better for slightly older kids (six and up) than preschoolers unless you take part in one of the family activities.
I ambled slowly round the 300 objects in around an hour, finishing with the discovery that there was a hippopotamus goddess, Taweret, ferociously protective and associated with childbirth and fertility.
While underwater excavation techniques might not fascinate my daughter just yet, this is something I know would delight her.
Need to know: Sunken Cities exhibition at the British Museum
PLEASE NOTE: THIS EXHIBITION HAS NOW ENDED – VISIT THE BRITISH MUSEUM WEBSITE FOR THE LATEST EVENTS.
The exhibition runs to November 27 and costs £16.50 for adults, free for under-16s and members. Book your tickets online in advance, with specific entry times and dates available.
There are also family activities during spring and autumn half terms and the summer holidays, including interactive storytelling on July 21 and 25, and August 12, 16, 25 and 30 at 11.30am, 1pm and 2pm. There are also events for under-fives on May 19, August 12, September 29, October 13 and November 4.
There’s also an accompanying book published for children called Secret Treasures of Ancient Egypt: Discover the sunken cities, including stickers and a press-out sarcophagus.
Disclosure: My entry to the exhibition was courtesy of the British Museum and Egyptian tourist board. All opinions and previous lack of knowledge about hippo gods are my own.
Images copyright MummyTravels
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Looks amazing! I’ve always been fascinated with Ancient Egypt, especially with Egyptian mythology, and I am really looking forward to seeing this exhibition. I’m planning on bringing my toddler to the British Museum soon but think I’ll wait until I can be on my own to really appreciate this one. Thanks for sharing!
It is absolutely amazing – I am so glad I got to wander around at my own pace for this one. We did have a great time at the museum though, I love their activity trails for under-fives so hope you have fun with your toddler as well.
Oh wow, this looks super! I’m as much a fan of ancient Egypt as I am of London’s museums and must try fit this one in to my schedule.
Definitely one to make time for, I think (plus the bonus of the rest of the British Museum’s Egyptian collection there too)
Wow what a fantastic exhibition. I find hieroglyphics (sp???) fascinating! We have an Egyptian mummy in one of our local museums and the children love going to visit 😀
Steve and I went to the British Museum for the first time last year and I couldn’t believe how huge it was!
It is just amazing – and there is something so fascinating about Ancient Egypt, I think. I’m not sure how many visits I’ve made to the British museum over the years, and I doubt I’m close to exploring half yet, always so much to discover.
The Egyptian collection at the British museum is indeed impressive. Thanks for sharing info on the sunken cities exhibition.
My pleasure – it is an amazing collection, isn’t it.
An amazing exhibition – I had never heard of this before. Some of the statues look as if they were made yesterday! Thanks for alerting me – I will book later.
My pleasure! They are astonishing, incredibly well preserved after so long – I hope you enjoy it.
Such beautiful pieces, it’s amazing to think how recently they’ve been discovered. My kids used to love mummys too and it was always what we’d head to first in the Louvre when they were little.
Aren’t they wonderful. The Egyptian section is always the bit I go to first in the Louvre now – after seeing the Mona Lisa on my first visit, every time I’ve gone back with friends, I point them in the direction of the crowds and take myself off there instead.
I’m going!
Enjoy – it’s fascinating!
It’s great when you can take your kids back to places that were meaningful for you as a child. This sounds great. When I’m next in town…
Absolutely – I love sharing those memories, although I’m not sure how much she appreciates that sentiment just yet. I hope you get to see it while it’s still on.
What an exciting and exhilarating view that RAF pilot must have had. Sounds fascinating.
Absolutely – I can’t imagine how exciting it might be to suddenly spot a lost ancient city below you.
#citytripping
Museum exhibits can be one of the best ways to learn about other cultures without having to travel too far. What an amazing find for the archaeologists and interesting day out for visitors!
Absolutely – like a mini trip somewhere else, without even needing to leave your home city. This one really is an amazing find too.
That’s awesome that this trip was courtesy of British Museum and Egyptian tourist board! It looks like it was a lot of fun! And like you learned a lot! Those statues are in really great condition considering how old they are! 🙂
It’s almost hard to believe just how old they are – who’d have thought the bottom of the sea was the safest place!
It looks so interesting, we visit Pompeii several years ago and although it is different i find it fascinating that artefacts can be lost for so many years, and how exciting when they are discovered and tell a story x
Absolutely – like a sudden snapshot of people’s lives, it’s amazing to get that chance.
fascinating exhibition!
It really is
I really really want to see this exhibition!
#citytripping
It’s amazing – I hope you do…
absolutely amazing! what a fab experience to go along before it opened too 🙂 #citytripping
That was definitely an extra treat – I do love my job sometimes 🙂
Whoa! It’s a amzing they’ve just found the tip of the iceberg….
I know! I can only imagine what might still be down there.
This looks fantastic! I’ve always found ancient Egypt fascinating and their writing and overall aesthetics really beautiful. I’d love to see the exhibition and how amazing to be able to see it so well and without pressure! I am not sure I’ll manage to go and, if I do, it would be with the kids, so great to know what ages it’s good for! #citytrippin
Yes, the statues have such beautiful lines and I always find hieroglyphics look wonderful as well. The British Museum is great with kids, with all the activities and trails for younger ones so I hope that if you do manage to make it, there’d be plenty to keep them entertained too.
What a remarkable exhibition and quite amazing to think this is only the beginning, that there are more treasures to find.
#citytripping
I know – I hope we get to see some more of the finds, it’s incredible to think what else there might be.
Oh, I love stories like this! I had never heard of Aboukir Bay before or the stories of the sunken cities but I find things like this absolutely fascinating. Here in Mexico City, there’s a temple in the historic centre that was only discovered in the 1970s as it had been buried underground by the Spaniards when they arrived. Again, only a fraction of the original temple has been unearthed – who knows how much more there is to be discovered?! Great post! #citytripping
Thanks! That’s astonishing – you wonder how a temple can be hidden underground for so many centuries. And how fascinating to think what else might be buried away too. I’m fascinated by the cultures of that area, Aztecs, Mayans and Incas, so it’s somewhere I’d love to see.
That sounds like a fascinating exhibition and so amazing that there is still so much more to be found.
It’s incredible to think this is such a tiny proportion of what’s down there.
I am really into all things Egypt. I would like to visit the country again one day. I would love to see this exhibition. I saw one about Cleopatra and the cities during her time. On that exhibition, they recovered things from under the sea too. So great you had the opportunity to visit before the official opening.
There was a little at the end of this about Cleopatra too so I think they were probably the same. Amazing finds. And it’s made me want to go back to Egypt again even more too.
Looks like a truly fascinating exhibition. I had never heard about the hippopotamus goddess! Sometimes we really need those moments without the kids to be able to take in what we’re seeing, especially when it’s as wonderful as this.
Absolutely – I am glad I got to explore this solo for once.
Ah – I can’t wait to book onto this exhibition. In fact, it’s been far too long since we visited the British Museum. Great that you could experience it kid-free for once though!
It’s a great incentive to get back (kids or not)
The British Museum is one of favourites! And Egyptian history has always fascinated me, I am going to have to pay a visit during half-term. 🙂
It’s a fantastic exhibition – I hope you get there, it is always a great visit isn’t it.
Sounds like a great weekend activity to do…if only I live in London! Although my knowledge about Egyptology is practically nil, I like the idea of going to a museum to see exhibits like this. Your photos are amazing! #CityTripping
Thank you! And a bit of a long way for you to pop over – but I do love good exhibitions on Ancient Egypt so next time you’re nearby perhaps…
How fascinating!!!! I wasn’t aware of these sunken ancient cities…it’s incredible… Love the hippo God. Will have to pay it a visit! #citytripping
Nor me – I only discovered afterwards that there’s been another exhibition in Paris. Completely missed the whole story until this visit.