Сleopatra's "party boat"? What was found in the water off the coast of Egypt

Underwater off the coast of Egypt, archaeologists continue to "collect" the sunken Alexandria - a city where earthquakes and a gradual rise in sea level have hidden ports, palaces and temples under the water column. In the centre of the new work - the area of the former royal port near the island of Antirodos, near which were the sanctuary of Isis and structures associated with the elite of the late Ptolemaic and early Roman era.

During the latest expedition, researchers discovered an unusual shipwreck from early Roman times. At first, the find was mistaken for a merchant ship: the bottom was surveyed with high-precision sonar imaging, and then the data set was "sifted" by object recognition algorithms to identify likely "signatures" of ships among the bottom anomalies. However, as they cleared it became clear: what they had in front of them was not a typical antique harbour lorry.

The vessel appeared to be about 28 metres long (as preserved) and about 7 metres wide, with a flat bottom and a "chunky" hull. An important detail: archaeologists did not see a characteristic place under the mast - so the ship, most likely, went on oars, and not under sail. For a sea carrier it is strange, but very similar to the river "cabin boat" - thalamagos (thalamegos ), the legendary ships of the Nile, which Roman authors glorified as luxurious "floating parties".

"Domestic" archaeology also provided clues: Greek graffiti was found on the planks, indicating a local operating environment and possibly construction or repair in Alexandria. And the comparison of the hull shape and the idea of a rowing stroke with images in ancient art (including the scene in the famous mosaic from Palestrina) strengthened the version of the thalamagos.

"Pati boat" - but not only?

The authors of the find urge not to see the thalamagos solely as a toy of idle nobility. Administrative papyri and descriptions of river life show that "cabin boats" could fulfil more prosaic functions: transporting officials and cargo along waterways. Therefore, the appearance of such a vessel in a commercially active port no longer looks impossible.

At the same time there is a more intriguing version. The ship was found near the temple of Isis, and it could have perished in the same catastrophic event that destroyed part of the coastal structures. In that case, the talamagos could have been not just a "yacht" but a ceremonial barge involved in religious festivals and processions associated with the cult of Isis and the "opening of sea navigation" after the winter season.

A detailed post-excavation analysis is underway: researchers want to reconstruct the appearance of the vessel, understand how it behaved on the water, and compare the find with textual sources. Judging by the first data, the sunken cabin boat may become a rare material evidence of what was previously known mainly from descriptions and images.