Ancient Egyptian artifacts found submerged in the ruins of Thonis-Heracelion and Canopus will be exhibited for the very first time in a major Paris exhibition.

The ancient Egyptian treasures, which include a statute of an unnamed pharaoh and a depiction of the god Osiris, along with other spectacular antiquities, were submerged with the ancient cities due to natural disasters in the eighth century CE. The exhibition will take place in Paris from September 8, 2015 to January 31, 2016.

A French marina archaeologist, who is also the founding head of the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology in Pars, Frank Goodio, is collaborating with the Oxford Center for Maritime Archaeology at the University of Oxford and Egyptian authorities to preserve and reveal the historic findings.

The underwater site, which is situated in Aboukir Bay near Alexandria, is 110 sq km in size. The vast site contains at least three submerged cities. Goodio estimates that they have only excavated one, or possibly two, percent of the entire site.

Thonis-Heracleion are Egyptian and Greek names that were only known from ancient writings. Once a booming city that was founded around the eighth century BCE, it had a large number of connecting canals and a port of high significance to Egypt and foreign ships passing by. The discovery of over 700 ancient anchors and 60 wrecks going back to the sixth and second centuries BCE prove the vitality of maritime activity during that period.

Canopus was well known for its sanctuaries that were built specifically for Osiris and other gods. It was also known for its healers that were called to neighboring areas to heal illnesses. However, its most famous for its story of Osiris who was killed by his brother Seth and thrown into the Nile River. Osiris's wife, Isis, summoned ''magical'' powers and called onto the gods to resurrect her husband from the dead and conceive their son, Horus.

The recent findings of artifacts of a vast number of Egyptian historical treasures confirm many details of ancient texts and writings. The exhibition will unveil over 290 never before seen artifacts and will be headed by France's former Minister of Culture, Jack Lang and sponsored by the Arab World Institute in Paris.