Evidence of city beneath Alexandria found

A Smithsonian team has uncovered underwater evidence pointing to an urban settlement dating back seven centuries before Alexander the Great founded Alexandria. Coastal geoarchaeologist Jean-Daniel Stanley of the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History said his team's work suggested a much larger community than had previously been believed.

"This was proof that there was significant metallurgy and human activity going on back 1,000 years BC," Stanley said. "Alexandria did not just grow out from a barren desert, but was built atop an active town." Their project, part of a 2007 Smithsonian-funded study of the subsiding Nile Delta, also involved Egypt's antiquities department and a French offshore group. (AP)