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CategoriesAncient ports
Harbours, quays and anchorages that moved cargo before the coastline shifted.
🇮🇹 Italy · Submerged site
Archaic to Late Antique (700 BCE – 400 CE) · Greek Syracusan / Roman
Syracusan colony 700 BCE — 120 m submerged ashlar quay at −3 m on the Tellaro mouth where Athenians landed in 413 BCE.
🇺🇦 Ukraine · Submerged site
Archaic to Late Antique (550 BCE – 400 CE) · Cimmerian / Bosporan / Scythian
Northern lagoon marina of hillfort Kimmerikon below Opuk North — 45 m quay at –1.2 m and fish-pond.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Submerged site
Old Kingdom to Middle Kingdom (c.2650 – 1700 BCE) · Old Kingdom Egyptian (Snefru–Khufu–Khafra)
Old Kingdom world's oldest harbour 2650 BCE — paired Ayn Sukhna jetty 0.2–1 m submerged and Wadi al-Jarf galleries with Khufu boat caches.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Buried city
Ptolemaic to Byzantine (300 BCE – 600 CE) · Ptolemaic / Roman (Diocletian)
Western feeder harbour of fort Dionysias at Qasr Qarun — 50 m quay at –2 m and 90 m canal.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Buried city
Hellenistic to Early Islamic (300 BCE – 800 CE) · Hellenistic / Byzantine Egyptian
Eastern Mareotis harbour of Marea behind Lake Mareotis — 90 m Pharos mole at –1.5 m and eastern quay with chirho dumps.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Submerged site
Medieval (1110–1288 CE) · English Norman / Cinque Ports
Cinque Port drowned 1287–1288 — 50-acre shingle island harbour now −6 m in Rye Bay; New Winchelsea bastide 1292 replacement 2 km inland.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Submerged site
Ptolemaic to Late Roman (275 BCE – 550 CE) · Ptolemaic / Roman Egyptian
Southern Foul Bay lagoon of Berenike behind Ras Benas — gypsum quay at –1.5 m and elephant ramp.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Buried city
Predynastic to Medieval (5000 BCE – 1000 CE) · Egyptian / Greek / Roman / Coptic
Thoth capital 2.5 km enclosure — Bahr Yussef-Nile confluence harbour 400x80 m for ibis mummies and Book of Dead papyri.
🇮🇹 Italy · Submerged site
Etruscan Archaic to Roman (c. 700 BCE – 300 CE) · Etruscan / Roman
Etruscan iron-smelting harbour drowned under Baratti slag beach – quay blocks at –1 to –2 m.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Submerged site
Old Kingdom to New Kingdom (2500 – 1400 BCE) · Middle Kingdom Egyptian
12th dynasty pharaonic harbour at Mersa Gawasis — limestone anchor shrine with Senusret stele at –1 m and 8 cedar anchors at –1.5 m.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Submerged site
Old Kingdom to New Kingdom (2500 – 1400 BCE) · Middle Kingdom Egyptian
12th dynasty pharaonic harbour at Mersa Gawasis — limestone anchor shrine with Senusret stele at –1 m and 8 cedar anchors at –1.5 m.
🇷🇺 Russia · Submerged site
Archaic to Late Antique (543 BCE – 600 CE) · Ionian Greek / Bosporan Kingdom
Western roadstead of Phanagoria 2–4 m under Taman Bay west of Tuzla Spit — timber jetties and salting quarter 220 m offshore.
🇬🇷 Greece · Submerged site
Archaic to Late Antique (654 BCE – 400 CE) · Teian / Klazomenian Ionian
Western lagoon harbour of Abdera at Bulustra West — 55 m mole at –2 m and bastion.
🇷🇺 Russia · Submerged site
Archaic to Hellenistic (560 BCE – 50 BCE) · Toretae Maeotian / Greek
Southern cape harbour of Toricos at Toretae Cape — 45 m jetty at –2.5 m and breakwater spur.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Submerged site
Roman to Mamluk (25 BCE – 1450 CE) · Roman / Islamic (Ayyubid-Mamluk)
Western mangrove bay of Quseir al-Qadim at Marsa Nakari west — gypsum quay at –1.2 m and 14th c. Islamic warehouses.
🇮🇹 Italy · Buried city
Archaic to Hellenistic (720 – 300 BCE) · Achaean Greek / Sybarite
Southern stoa quarter of Sybaris 5 m under Crati alluvium — 80 m Doric stoa at –5 m and potters' kilns south of main park.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Submerged site
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) · Bronze Age–Classical
Heracleion Central Temple Amun-Gereb Statue Base in Alexandria, Heracleion, Egypt is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) submerged city attributed to Bronze Age–Classical.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Submerged site
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) · Bronze Age–Classical
Thonis-Heracleion Submerged Stele of Nectanebo in Alexandria, Heracleion, Egypt is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) submerged city attributed to Bronze Age–Classical.
🇮🇱 Israel · Submerged site
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) · Bronze Age–Classical
Caesarea Maritima Submerged Harbour Sebastos Outer Mole in Haifa, Caesarea, Israel is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) submerged city attributed to Bronze Age–Classical.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Submerged site
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) · Bronze Age–Classical
Pharos of Alexandria Foundation Blocks Submerged in Alexandria, Pharos, Egypt is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) submerged city attributed to Bronze Age–Classical.
🇱🇾 Libya · Submerged site
Archaic Greek to Early Islamic (560 BCE – 643 CE) · Greek Cyrenean / Ptolemaic / Roman
Overlapping Greek harbours of Euesperides (560 BCE) and Berenice (247 BCE) preserved as lagoon moles and fish-tanks under Benghazi lagoon.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Submerged site
Classical to Byzantine (360 BCE – 700 CE) · Dorian Greek / Hellenistic / Roman / Byzantine
Cape Crio twin harbours — northern trireme sheds silted and southern mole now 3.2 m submerged, warning yachts at Knidos.
🇫🇯 Fiji · Submerged site
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) · Bronze Age–Classical
Kaweca Submerged Reef Village Fiji Trench in Cakaudrove, Kaweca, Fiji is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) submerged city attributed to Bronze Age–Classical.
🇫🇲 Micronesia · Submerged site
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) · Bronze Age–Classical
Nan Madol Channel Nandowas Terrace North in Pohnpei, Nan Madol, Micronesia is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–300 CE) submerged city attributed to Bronze Age–Classical.
