Exhibition: 'Egypt's Sunken Treasures' show comes to Madrid

AFP

Some 500 treasures of ancient Egypt retrieved by divers from under the sea are to go on display in Madrid from Wednesday, in a special space in the city's former slaughterhouse, the organisers announced.

"Egypt's Sunken Treasures" exhibition has already been shown in Berlin, Paris and Bonn.

"It retraces 15 centuries of history, from the eight century B.C. to the eighth century A.D., and testifies to the mix of civilizations," French marine archaeologist Franck Goddio, who led the team that recovered the artefacts, told a news conference in Madrid.

The treasures will be on display in a special 4,000-square-metre (43,000-square-foot) area in the city's former slaughterhouse, said Alicia Moreno, in charge of culture in Madrid's city hall.

Art Daily

With photograph.

The Antiguo Matadero de Legazpi will open the exhibit The Sunken Treasures of Egypt through September 28. In the last twelve years, marine archaeologist Franck Goddio has discovered unique testimonials to Egyptian history dating from the 7th century BC to the 8th century AD off the coast of the modern city of Alexandria and in the Bay of Aboukir. These artefacts were lost to the sea more than one thousand years ago as the result of natural disasters. Monumental statues as well as coins, jewellery and cult objects have been located on the seabed of the Mediterranean by means of state-of-the-art technology and recovered in years of painstaking work. Names shrouded in legend such as the ancient harbour of Alexandria and parts of the royal quarters, the long-lost city of Heracleion and parts of the city of Canopus have been re-discovered.