Prayer or Pleasure: Discovery of a 1st century AD barge in Alexandria, Egypt

Renowned French maritime archaeologist Franck Goddio joins Professor Lucy Blue to discuss his latest discovery in the eastern harbour of Alexandria, Egypt. Working with his team of the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Goddio reveals the uncovering of a 1st-century AD pleasure barge, known as a thalamegos. A bathymetric sub-bottom profiler survey detected a long anomaly and careful excavation through the sediment revealed the vessel’s planking, keel, and structural elements. Measuring over 30 metres long, this flat-bottomed boat was located in the small royal harbour off the island of Antirhodos.

Limited finds and graffiti inscribed above the keel, helped date the vessel. These clues, combined with the writings of the Greek geographer Strabo, who described Alexandria during the Roman period, offer insights into the luxurious activities that may have taken place on board.  An alternative hypothesis links the barge to the Temple of Isis, originally situated near the palace of Cleopatra VII, raising the intriguing possibility that it was used in Isiac ceremonial processions. As Goddio explains, it is hardly surprising that the harbours of Alexandria continue to yield extraordinary discoveries, as after all, this was once the very centre of the ancient world.

Follow along with this work on this website: www.franckgoddio.org