ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Archaeologists Thursday pulled from the sea off the coast of Egypt a 9-ton granite pillar they say came from an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Isis.
Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni and Antiquities Council Secretary-General Zawi Hawwas looked on as the crane lifted the artifact to the surface of the Mediterranean Sea, ANSAmed reported.
The massive stone slab had been discovered in 1998. The red granite pillar was part of the entrance to a temple honoring the Egyptian goddess of fertility, was located near the palace of Queen Cleopatra.
The entrance to Cleopatra's tomb will be pulled out in May and the two pieces will be exhibited in a maritime museum to be built in Alexandria in the coming year, the report said.
