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Egypt on Friday announced the discovery of a settlement in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria dating back to at least the second century BC.

An Egyptian archaeological crew made the find in the city’s central Al-Shatby district during nine months of excavations, a statement from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said.

The suburb had a “residential and commercial” function, the statement declared.

The head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, said initial studies showed “a main road and adjacent streets linked by a sewage system “.

The area was in use from the late Ptolemaic period until the middle of the period of Roman rule, covering a timeframe from “the second century BC until the fourth century AD,” Waziri was conveyed as saying.

Archaeologists discovered a large number of wells cut into the rock and a network of water cisterns, the statement said. The archaeologists  also found an alabaster statue of an unidentified Roman emperor, amulets, various amphorae and some 700 ancient coins.

Ahmed Abu Hamd, head of antiquities in Alexandria, said the remains point to a “market, workshops and votive and sculpture shops”.

Cairo has announced a series of archaeological discoveries in recent years, hoping to promote a vital tourism sector affected by the 2011 uprising, insurgent attacks and the coronavirus pandemic.