Discovering the ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion

<p>In 2000, the pioneering underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio made one of the greatest ever submerged discoveries.</p><p>He found evidence that the remains he had found off the coast of Egypt were from Thonis-Heracleion, an ancient Egyptian port lost without trace.</p><p>Before the foundation of Alexandria, it had flourished at the mouth of the Nile between the 6th to 2nd centuries BC, a city twice the size of Pompeii.</p><p>He tells Josephine McDermott about the incredible artefacts he has found including the moment he realised he was at the foot of a five-metre tall statue of a pharaoh.</p><p>(Photo: The pharaoh statue discovered off the coast of Egypt. Credit: Christoph Gerigk, Franck Goddio/Hilti Foundation)</p>