Sunken royal palace with Cleopatra link yields rare find tied to long-lost wonder of ancient world

Archaeologists have found a bronze signet ring depicting the Lighthouse of Alexandria in the submerged royal harbour of Alexandria, Egypt. It is the first known signet ring to feature the ancient landmark, offering evidence of how the lighthouse became a symbol of the city and making its underwater history more tangible.

The ring was recovered from the site of a royal palace on Antirhodos, an island associated with Cleopatra VII, Mark Antony and Julius Caesar. Its age is uncertain: its imagery resembles that on some second-century AD coins, but it may date to either the Ptolemaic or Roman period. Built in the third century BC, the lighthouse guided ships for centuries before earthquakes brought it down, with its final collapse around the 14th century.