Archaeologists diving off the coast of Egypt have discovered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the remains of the Pharos Lighthouse.

The divers report that hundreds of ancient statues, temples and monuments litter the seabed in one of the biggest archaeology finds in our time.

However, because of time limitations and new construction at the site, work was ordered ceased by the Egyptian government. However, archaeologists did recover pieces of the lighthouse along with enough ancient statutes and other relics to fill a museum.

Now starts a six month desalination process before archaeologists can study the pieces, most which have been submerged for centuries.

The stone tower, the prototype of today's modern lighthouse, was built in 285 BC to guide ships into Alexandria. The fire atop the 500 foot structure was said to be visible for 40 miles out to sea. The lighthouse was destroyed by an earthquake in the 12th century.

The great stone blocks of wondrous Tower of Pharos will remain at the bottom of the sea where they have laid for centuries.

The other wonders of the Ancient World were: The Colussus of Rhodes; The Temple in Ephesus (now present day Turkey); The tomb of King Mausolus at Halicarnassus (also in Turkey); The Hanging Gardens of Babylon; the great marble and gold statute of Zeus at Olympus; and the Great Pyramids at Giza. Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, only the Pyramids exist today.

This story appeared in the December 1995 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.