A DOOMED ship that sank after it was hit by gigantic stone blocks following an earthquake 2,200 years ago has been found in Egypt.
The wreck was discovered by archaeologists at the site of Thonis-Heracleion, a city that crashed into the water as a result of the megaquake.
Scattered across a series of interlinked islands off Egypt’s northern coast, the metropolis was once the country’s gateway to the Mediterranean.
It was lost to a cataclysmic event towards the end of the second century BC that buried it under layers of sand and mud.
Thonis-Heracleion was rediscovered by underwater archaeologists in the early 2000s and expeditions continue to uncover rubble and artefacts.
Earlier this month, archaeologists announced the discovery of a galley and burial ground at the site beneath the Mediterranean Sea.
The expedition was led by by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology with help from Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
They believe the ship plunged to the seafloor “after being hit by huge blocks from the famed temple of Amun”, according to the EIUA.
Located in the middle of the city and dedicated to the god of Amun, the massive temple was one of dozens of buildings lost to the deadly quake.
The wreck was once a fast galley, a long and sleep vessel with large sails built to skim across the water at high speeds.
Read the full story in The Sun
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