- Cleopatra's submerged palace is being opened to divers
from all over the world in the New Year.
-
- The divers will be asked to help restore it in exchange
for their exclusive view of the kingdom, the site of which was confirmed
only in the past decade. Ashraf Sabri, an Egyptian doctor and expert diver,
has won permission for the underwater tours after two years of negotiations
with reluctant Egyptian officials. An experimental dive that included British
divers took place this winter.
-
- Cleopatra, the last pharoah, was known as the "Queen
of Kings". She was notorious for her extravagance as well as her seduction
of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Antony's submerged chambers lie in ruins
alongside hers. The lovers committed suicide after their affair, Antony
by falling on his sword and Cleopatra, at the age of 39, by the bite of
an asp.
-
- Among the treasures are parts of Cleopatra's sun boat
which slaves propelled with silver oars. Dr Sabri said that archaeologists
were still trying to find the queen's bedroom amid fallen columns and broken
sphinxes. He said that dozens of European tour agencies, mostly French,
had been telephoning him to arrange visits to the underwater hoard.
-
- Dr Sabri said: "There are thousands of statues and
columns just a few yards off Pharos island, the site of a fallen lighthouse,
one of the ancient world's seven wonders. We will be swimming through the
palace, cleaning the marble floors and, in some cases, putting statues
back on their pedestals. We believe that taking part in restoration work
will enhance the overall experience for divers."
-
- Dr Sabri hopes to equip diving masks with hearing devices
so that underwater guides can give the divers details of Cleopatra's elaborate
love nest as they go about their explorations.
-
- Cultural officials had been resisting efforts to turn
the palace into a tourist attraction. The prospect of allowing in foreign
tourists revived old fears that treasures might be plundered.
-
- The hard-up government is still debating the idea of
building an underwater glass corridor that would extend from the shore
to the palace grounds, allowing tourists to explore the ruins without getting
wet or touching the treasures.
-
-
-
- MainPage
http://www.rense.com
-
-
-
- This
Site Served by TheHostPros
|