The world's oldest known deep-sea ship cargo was found off the coast of northern Israel, 2024.Energean
Posted on 06/20/2024 9:10:41 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
In a groundbreaking archaeological discovery, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Thursday that a natural gas company's standard survey of the Eastern Mediterranean floor had uncovered the most ancient ship ever found in the deep seas.
The discovery of the remains of the ship from the 14th-13th century BCE proves that Late Bronze Age mariners could navigate the seas without a line of sight to the shore, contrary to what was previously believed, the IAA said.
The approximately 3,300-year-old ship with a cargo of hundreds of intact amphorae was found 90 kilometers off northern Israel's coast, at a depth of 1.8 km...
The exciting recent find began when a submersible robot operated by Energean, a natural gas exploration and production company operating several offshore fields, spotted what seemed to be a large pile of jugs heaped on the seafloor...
Shipwrecks found near the Turkish coast were accessible using normal diving equipment. However the depth of this shipwreck necessitated Energean and the IAA to team up to conduct a more technically advanced investigative operation...
During the operation, the team confirmed that the ship was 12-14 meters long and was transporting hundreds of vessels. Some were visible above the ocean floor, but the muddy bottom concealed a second layer of amphorae...
The vessels extracted from the sea floor will be on display during pre-opening tours of the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofisrael.com ...
The world's oldest known deep-sea ship cargo was found off the coast of northern Israel, 2024.Energean
They found the cargo anyway.
Well they sunk. Should have stayed closer to shore
wow - from the Canaanites. excited for what they’ll learn.
Bwa ha ha.
It is still pretty cool. An intact ship would be awesome.
When do the Carbon Fiber Submarine tours begin?...........
Navigated there.
Or were blown there by a good nor’Easter until swamped and sunk.
Or they got blown off their usual safe course by a storm and subsequently sunk after incurring damage.
“The discovery of the remains of the ship from the 14th-13th century BCE proves that Late Bronze Age mariners could navigate the seas without a line of sight to the shore, contrary to what was previously believed, the IAA said.”
How does this one discovery prove “that Late Bronze Age mariners could navigate the seas without a line of sight to the shore”? The ship sunk. It could have been blown out to sea in a storm which damaged it so it sunk far from shore.
Is this one of those “trust the science” things?
Classical Greek amphorae had markings on the amphora handles (which often survive detached from the amphora), but I don't know if that practice existed in the 14th century B.C.
Got me by less than a minute. Great minds travel the same path...or road...or sidewalk...or gutter:)
“Or were blown there by a good nor’Easter until swamped and sunk.”
That was my first thought, too. “Navigated there” is a big stretch.
I would say that, if they did go far away enough from shore to not see the shore, it would have been along sure routes. They probably didn’t do this on every single route they took.
I don’t think they would have done that where they were at risk of sinking.
Familiarity breeds contempt. When we become too sure, we take chances.
“amphora”
Am I the only one who had to look up the definition? I don’t understand HOW something with a pointed bottom and shaped like pictures shown by googling can FIT TIGHTLY together....
“”An amphora (/ˈæmfərə/; Ancient Greek: ἀμφορεύς, romanized: amphoreús; English pl. amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container[1] with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land or sea.””
“proves that Late Bronze Age mariners could navigate the seas without a line of sight to the shore”
But doesn’t it really prove that late bronze age mariners could ‘sink’ in the seas without a line of sight to the shore?
Anyone who sails knows that sailing ships avoid being too close to shore in case the wind turns and blows them onto a lee shore and then everybody dies. The only time to be close to shore is when going into port and leaving it.
“proves that Late Bronze Age mariners could navigate the seas without a line of sight to the shore,”
If they knew where they were going, and what they were doing, why is the boat at the bottom of the sea?
Hmmmmmmmmmmm . . .?
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