Chris O-H commented:

"I have a large piece of fossilised
tree/wood from Giza that was given to
me by a friend. Interesting that the
area was not only covered by forest but
also by an ocean/sea."

What a person has to remember is that during the
Eocene Hot House climates, global sea level varied
between 100 meters (330 ft) and greater than 100
meters (330 ft) **above** modern sea level all over
the world. As a result, not only was the Giza Plateau
underwater, but also significant parts of the coastal
plains all over the world were also underwater. High
Eocene sea levels are shown in the global sea level
curves calculated by and illustrated in Haq et al.
(1988) for Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras. During the
Eocene Epoch, there would have been nothing
unusual about the Giza Plateau being underwater.

At this time in Earth history, the large continental
ice sheets that now cover Greenland and Antartica
were absent. Thus, all of the water in modern ice
sheets was at that time in Eocene oceans.

It is argued by some geologists that during the
latter part of the Eocene Epoch, the glaciation of
Antartica started as relatively small and isolated
ice caps. However, even the occurence of small ice
caps during the Late Eocene Epoch, which is still
an unsettled controversy, wouldn't have lowered
sea level much.

Reference Cited:

Haq, B.U., Hardenbol, J., and Vail, P. R., 1988.
Mesozoic and Cenozoic chronostratigraphy and
eustatic cycles. In C. K. Wilgus, B. S. Hastings, H.
Posamentier, J. V. Wagoner, C. A. Ross, and C. G.
St. C. Kendall, eds., pp. 71-108, Sea-level changes:
an integrated approach. SEPM Special Publications
no. 42, Society for Sedimentary Geology, Tulsa,
Oklahoma.

Best Regards,

Paul
Baton Rouge, LA