Search places, or jump to a section
CategoriesAncient ports
Harbours, quays and anchorages that moved cargo before the coastline shifted.
🇺🇦 Ukraine · Submerged site
Classical to Late Antique (5th c. BCE – 370 CE) · Kimmerian / Bosporan Greek
Lagoon harbour of Kimmerikon below Opuk Mountain — 80 m quay at –1.5 m behind pink lake lagoon spit with fortress walls 300 m.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Buried city
Ptolemaic to Late Roman (305 BCE – 400 CE) · Egyptian / Greek / Ptolemaic / Roman
Fayum island harbour — Soknopaios crocodile temple dromos 400 m to lake harbour 200x100 m now 2 km from receded Birket Qarun.
🇺🇦 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.
🇬🇷 Greece · Submerged site
Archaic to Late Antique (c. 700 BCE – 600 CE) · Corinthian Greek / Roman
Saronic harbour of Corinth with twin Roman moles and submerged quay walls 1–3 m offshore at Kechries.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Buried city
Archaic to Late Antique (10th c. BCE – 15th c. CE) · Carian / Lycian / Greek / Roman / Byzantine
Carian border port now 8 km inland — 10th c. BCE harbour silted by Dalyan delta and Iztuzu spit after 200 BCE, with intact mooring rings and theatre.
🇮🇹 Italy · Submerged site
Phoenician to Late Antique (800 BCE – 600 CE) · Phoenician / Punic / Roman / Nuragic
8th c. BCE Nora Stone Phoenician colony — 120 m quay at −3 m off Capo di Pula isthmus with 7 wrecks at −8 m.
🇷🇺 Russia · Submerged site
Archaic to Medieval (580 BCE – 1100 CE) · Ionian Greek / Bosporan / Slavic Tmutarakan
Northern bay harbour of Hermonassa in Tuzla Bay — 70 m timber quay at –1.5 m behind spit.
🇪🇬 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.
🇺🇦 Ukraine · Submerged site
Archaic to Late Antique (6th c. BCE – 300 CE) · Milesian / Bosporan Greek
Entire Greek city Akra 3–4 m under Kerch Strait off Naberezhne — harbour mole 120 m at –3 m and street grid 200×150 m at –3.5 m.
🇺🇦 Ukraine · Submerged site
Archaic to Late Antique (6th c. BCE – 300 CE) · Milesian / Bosporan Greek
Entire Greek city Akra 3–4 m under Kerch Strait off Naberezhne — harbour mole 120 m at –3 m and street grid 200×150 m at –3.5 m.
🇪🇸 Spain · Submerged site
Archaic to Late Roman (575 BCE – 500 CE) · Phocaean Greek / Indiketan / Roman
Phocaean double harbour – Greek quay at –0.5 m off Neapolis and silted Riells basin, L'Escala.
🇪🇬 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.
🇪🇬 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.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Submerged site
Ptolemaic to Late Roman (275 BCE – 250 CE) · Ptolemaic / Roman Egyptian
Northern mangrove roadstead of Myos Hormos at Marsa Nakari — timber jetty stumps at –1.5 m behind mangroves.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Submerged site
Ptolemaic to Late Roman (275 BCE – 250 CE) · Ptolemaic / Roman Egyptian
Northern mangrove roadstead of Myos Hormos at Marsa Nakari — timber jetty stumps at –1.5 m behind mangroves.
🇮🇹 Italy · Submerged site
Punic to Medieval (396 BCE – 1200 CE) · Carthaginian / Greek / Roman
Punic naval harbour with ashlar mole at –1 m off Marsala's Capo Boeo – Carthage's western bastion.
🇬🇧 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.
🇷🇺 Russia · Submerged site
Archaic to Late Antique (575 BCE – 500 CE) · Milesian Greek / Bosporan
Eastern Strait toll harbour of Patrai on Kerch Strait — 60 m quay at –1.8 m and customs house.
🇪🇬 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 · 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.
🇺🇦 Ukraine · Submerged site
Archaic to Roman (647 BCE – 300 CE) · Milesian Greek / Scythian
Southern Black Sea harbour of Olbia Pontica below acropolis — 140 m curved mole at –1.8 m.
🇷🇺 Russia · Submerged site
Archaic to Late Antique (580 BCE – 300 CE) · Milesian / Bosporan
Southern spit harbour of Porthmion on Chushka South — 55 m piled quay at –1.8 m and guard mole.
