1100-Year-Old Rare Sealed Amphora Discovered on Shipwreck off Türkiye Coast

Arkeonews ^ | April 27, 2025 | Oguz Buyukyildirim

[SunkenCiv]

Underwater excavations near Kaş, Antalya, on Turkey's southwestern coast, have yielded fascinating insights into ancient Mediterranean seafaring and trade. A team led by Associate Professor Dr. Hakan Öniz from Akdeniz University has been exploring a shipwreck dating back 1,100 years, during the Abbasid rule in the 9th-10th centuries. The discoveries highlight the crucial role of olives for sailors and have unearthed a rare sealed amphora, sparking excitement among archaeologists...

The shipwreck, located at a depth of 45-50 meters near Besmi Island, was found to be carrying a cargo of olive oil. According to historical accounts and the typology of amphorae discovered, the ship had set sail from the Gaza coast of Palestine before succumbing to a storm off the coast of Kaş. Dr. Öniz noted that while such amphorae are known in literature, this marks the first time they have been encountered in amphorae in Turkey...

In a separate but related excavation at the same shipwreck site, the team also unearthed a remarkably well-preserved, sealed amphora. This discovery has generated considerable excitement as the contents of the sealed vessel remain unknown after a millennium underwater.

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TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: amphora; godsgravesglyphs; middleages; shipwreck; turkey

[SunkenCiv]

Underwater footage shows the 1,100-year-old sealed amphora during an excavation off the coast of Antalya, Türkiye.

Credit: AA

[SunkenCiv]

[BenLurkin]

[frank ballenger]

1,100 years old but doesn’t look a day over 900. Well preserved.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

[Bob434]

Lol- saw a t-shirt that said “health food heck, at my age I need all thepreservatives I can get!”

[Beowulf9]

"Experts painstakingly opened the seal, a process that took about an hour, and are now analyzing samples of the contents"...

[mairdie]

Clapping madly. GREAT show!

[FLT-bird]

On a side note: what’s with “Türkiye”? No. Its Turkey. That is the English name for that country. We don’t adopt their name in their language....unless you want to start doing that for every country. ie drop this crap OR I better start seeing Deutschland instead of Germany, Magyarorszag instead of Hungary, Rossiya instead of Russia, etc etc.

[Candor7]

That Olive oil now is likely a bit on the salty side like “Ken’s Steak House” salad dressing.

[NavyShoe]

That’s why Gulf of America is such a beautiful troll.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Ever visited Peking? Or Burma?

[FLT-bird]

The funny thing is....I’ve heard Chinese people call it Peking and Burmese people call it Burma.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks for the unsolicited advice.

Around here, on FR, we use the actual title.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Yes, place names should be fixed for all time and the locals should not have any say in what they are to be called.

Category	Place Name	Year
Country	Ceylon → Sri Lanka	1972
Country	Dahomey → Benin	1975
Country	Upper Volta → Burkina Faso	1984
Country	Zaire → Democratic Republic of Congo	1997
Country	Swaziland → Eswatini	2018
Country	Macedonia → North Macedonia	2019
Country	Turkey → Türkiye	2022
City	Saigon → Ho Chi Minh City	1976
City	Bombay → Mumbai	1995
City	Leningrad → Saint Petersburg	1991
City	Astana → Nur-Sultan	2019
City	Dushore → Eagles Mere	1980
Feature	Ayers Rock → Uluru	1993
Feature	Mount McKinley → Denali	2015
Feature	Queen Charlotte Islands → Haida Gwaii	2010
Feature	Negro Bill Canyon → Grandstaff Canyon	2017
Feature	Gulf of Mexico → Gulf of America	2025

[FLT-bird]

Well if we’re going to start changing it for some to be trendy, better start doing it for all. That’ll be interesting when nobody has the slightest clue what the hell country you’re talking about anymore.

[FLT-bird]

The actual title in English is Turkey.

You’re welcome.

[Red Badger]

Arkeonews?

This is Old News.................😁

[SunkenCiv]

[singing] Arkeonews woncha come out tonight...

[missnry]

On a side note: what’s with “Türkiye”?

The name “change” has been since 2022. The official name is Türkiye by the request of the Turkish government. The pronunciation is like Tour Kay.