Fruit baskets — with fruit still inside — that are more than 2,200 years old were discovered recently in ruins of Thonis-Heracleion, the ancient lost city near Alexandria, Egypt.

Imposing temples, such as the one dedicated to Amon, or Herakles, fell into the water and laid untouched there until the year 2000, when French diver Franck Goddio discovered them and brought many of them to the surface.When the stones fell they trapped boats and cargo under them, preserving them in the clay of the sea bottom. This ensured that spectacular discoveries, such as Goddio’s recent find of a Greek/Egyptian wooden ship, would be protected from the ravages of time.But no one expected to discover an intact basket — complete with the fruit it held — almost 2200 years later.

The wooden vessel, along with hundreds of ancient ceramic vases and amphorae — some of them meant for use in burials — as well as bronze treasures have been recently discovered in the waters containing the remains of the legendary city of Thonis-Heracleion off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt.

“The finds of fast galleys from this period remain extremely rare”, explains Goddio, “the only other example to date being the Punic Marsala Ship from 235 BC.

The city served as Egypt’s largest port on the Mediterranean Sea even before Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in the year 331 BC, with the intention of that city becoming his capital.

One of the greatest archaeological finds of recent times was made in the years 1999 and 2000, when Goddio discovered and brought to the surface the monuments of the ancient city, which had been lying for more than two thousand years in only 30-odd feet of water.

Many of the massive statues belonging to the Temple of Amon/Herakles were in nearly perfect condition; some of the treasures he brought to the surface were shown in an exhibition at London’s British Museum in 2016.

In the most stunning discovery of all, the baskets were still full of doum, the fruit of an African palm tree that was sacred to ancient Egyptians. Additionally there were grape-seeds as well, which can be used for pressing to make oil.

“Nothing was disturbed,” he told reporters. “It was very striking to see baskets of fruits.”

The basket may have a connection to funeral rites. Goddio told reporters that they had been placed inside an underground room, contributing to the likelihood that they would be preserved.

The fruit basket was inside the same area where the funerary pottery was discovered, on a tumulus, or a mound that had been constructed over graves. The tumulus measured approximately 60 meters long by 8 meters wide (197 feet by 26.24 feet)

New finds part of tumulus containing Greek pottery, “exquisite” gold amuletThe Greek people had been allowed to settle the area during the late Pharaonic period, as they were known for their skills as merchants and traders and that area soon controlled the the entrance to Egypt at the mouth of the Canopic branch of the Nile.

The Greeks were even allowed to construct their own religious temples, including that dedicated to the god Amun, or Hercules.

“On that island, (was) something totally different. We found hundreds of deposits made of ceramic. One above the other. These are imported ceramic, red on black figures from Attic period.”

Not only the spectacular Attic vases and amphorae but mirrors and quantities of statuettes were found in the tumulus as well.

Perhaps most fascinatingly, Goddio also discovered extensive evidence of burning, which he believes suggests that there had been a “spectacular” ceremony that in effect barred anyone from entering the particular site ever again — until now.

Strangely, the tumulus appears to have been sealed for hundreds of years, Goddio stated, since none of the artifacts he found were from later than the early fourth century BC — despite the fact that the city thrived for several hundred years after that time, when it finally sunk under the waves.The underwater archaeologist says that he hopes to find answers to this conundrum in some of the treasures themselves. His newest finds include other carbon-based objects which rarely survive more than a few hundred years underwater, including the well-preserved remains of a wooden sofa for banquets.

The European Institute for Underwater Archaeology, or IEASM, is led by Goddio. The Institute works in close cooperation with Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and has the support of the Hilti Foundation, which makes historic finds like these possible.

Goddio’s newest discoveries will be studied and preserved before being put on display in museums so the public can view them.

Despite the many jaw-dropping discoveries already made at the site over the past 20 years, Goddio says that there is far more in store. So far, he says, only about 3% of the sunken city has been explored so far.