2025: A Year Full of Highlights for Franck Goddio
It has been an exciting year for Goddio and his team at the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM). Their ongoing exploration of the sunken cities off Egypt’s coast has uncovered fascinating new insights into the lives of ancient civilizations. The team’s achievements once again highlight the importance of this long-term archaeological project, which continues to unlock and expand our knowledge of historical chapters that would otherwise have been lost. We eagerly await the new insights that Franck Goddio will reveal in 2026.
Significant discovery in the eastern harbor of Alexandria
During its autumn excavation season in the Port of the Royal Island of Antirhodos, in the great Portus Magnus of Alexandria, the IEASM discovered, for the first time ever, the well-preserved timbers of a shipwreck that was one of Egypt’s famous ancient pleasure barges. The boat must have originally measured 35 meters in length and 7 meters in breadth. The ship's design was intended to maximize its width to accommodate a central pavilion. Even the ancient author Strabo described the boat when he visited Alexandria around 29-25 BC: “They hold feasts in cabin-boats (thalamagoi), which they use to enter the thick of the cyami and the shade of the leaves."
Franck Goddio can also imagine a ritual use of the boat given the fact that it was found very close to the team’s excavation site of the temple of Isis on Antirhodos Island. Although research on the wreck is still in its early stages, it already promises to offer a fascinating glimpse into life, religion, luxury and pleasure on the waterways of early Roman Egypt.
A close-up view of the well‑preserved wooden timbers of an ancient Egyptian pleasure barge, newly uncovered by the IEASM in Alexandria’s harbor.
Christoph Gerigk © Franck Goddio / Hilti Foundation
Grand exhibition opening: The Grand Egyptian Museum
On November 1, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) officially opened its doors on the Giza Plateau near Cairo. The GEM is the world's largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilization. A selection of 132 objects discovered by Goddio’s team in Thonis-Heracleion, Canopus and the eastern harbour of Alexandria is now part of the museum and enriching its collection of Egypt’s Late Period.
“We are proud of being able to contribute with our work to the impressive collection of the GEM”, says Franck Goddio. “One of our goals is to make our research results accessible to the broad public and what could be better than having them presented in this fascinating museum.”
Among the objects on display are three colossal statues, each about 5 meters high, of a Ptolemaic king, a queen and the god Hapy. These statues were among the first spectacular discoveries made by the IEASM in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, with support from the Hilti Foundation , in the ancient sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion. The team recovered the statues, which were broken into several fragments, in close proximity to the Great Temple of Amun on the Central Island of the city. These statues are an important milestone in the iconography of the Greco-Macedonian dynasty. Of all the large Pharaonic-style images of Ptolemaic rulers in existence, these are easily the best preserved.
After years of meticulous excavation, restoration and study, the royal couple and the god Hapy embarked on a worldwide journey (2006–2009). As part of the “Egypt's Sunken Treasures/Cities” exhibition tour, they were presented to the public in Europe, the United States and Japan, fascinating millions of visitors. They have now found their permanent home with the new GEM. Other collections of artifacts discovered by Goddio’s team are on permanent display at the Graeco-Roman Museum and the National Museum of Alexandria.
Major publication: Archaeological finds provide evidence of Isis temple in Alexandria
Since 1996, the IEASM has gradually discovered, excavated and identified the remains of a temple on the sunken island of Antirhodos in the eastern port of Alexandria — the ancient Portus Magnus. Recent findings suggest that the temple functioned as a sanctuary for the personal cults of Ptolemy XII as Neo Osiris-Dionysos and Cleopatra VII as Nea Isis Aphrodite. The Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology (OCMA) has published all the results of this long-term research in a book titled “The Iseum of the Royal Island of Antirhodos.”
“Based on the archaeological finds, we can now reconstruct the Temple of Isis, the Iseum, very well,” says Franck Goddio. “The research results show that it underwent several phases of renovation and expansion before it was destroyed by an earthquake somewhere in the middle of the 50’s AD.” Finds from its foundation phase in the 3rd century BC allowed identification of the temple as one dedicated to the god Osiris. The discovery of this early phase was aided by new geophysical equipment that allowed the team to carefully locate excavations into the temple's earliest deposits. Experts are classifying the discovery of the Temple of Isis as a significant milestone in the study of Cleopatra VII. “Alexandria, with its royal quarters and the royal island of Antirhodos, was Cleopatra's base from which she ruled and forged alliances”, says Professor Damian Robinson of the University of Oxford, “with the discovery of the Temple of Isis, we find ourselves at the epicentre of her reign.”
Princess Duda has been fully renovated from bottom to top.
Christoph Gerigk © Franck Goddio / Hilti Foundation
Princess Duda undergoes major refitting
For 27 years, the IEASM’s support vessel, Princess Duda, has been a steadfast companion of the underwater archaeological project, serving as a reliable home base for the team during annual excavation missions off the coast of Egypt. Over time, however, she began to show her age. With the support of the Hilti Foundation , the decision was made to restore her to her former glory. This ambitious project involved a year-long refit at the Tringali shipyard in Augusta, Sicily. The results are remarkable: Princess Duda has been fully renovated from bottom to top and is ready to support the team for another 25 years of exploration and discovery.