Off the coast of Israel, a ship from approximately the time of king Tut was recently discovered during a survey by Energean, looking to develop natural gas fields.
Ancient Shipwreck Preserves a Deep Bronze Age Time Capsule.
I think this is a gift link.
Fascinating. Thanks for the link!
Here’s another story about it, from CNN. This one headlines the historical implications of where it was found.
The vessel is estimated to be from the 13th or 14th century BCE, the authority said in a statement. It was discovered 90 kilometers (around 56 miles) from the shore, in waters 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) deep, with hundreds of intact jars still on board, the statement added.
[snip]
Previous knowledge of how ships traded suggested that voyages were made from port to port, rather than across open expanses of sea, with those on board still able to see the shore.
“The ship that has just been discovered changes the understanding of sailing in the ancient world,” Sharvit said.
“This is a world-class sensation: The discovery shows the impressive navigational abilities of the ancients – those that made it possible to cross the Mediterranean Sea without any eye contact with the shore – since from this distance you can only see the horizon line,” he added.
Does it really show that they were able to navigate in the open sea? It seems like there could be many other reasons for the ship to end up there, such as becoming unmoored and floating away to the open sea.
That was my exact thought when I read the article
Small craft get blown out of sight of shore all the time.
The Mediterranean is famous for rapidly forming storms and sudden powerful winds. I don’t thing navigation was the main thing keeping ships close to the shore there.
I also wondered if the reason we think they stayed near the coast is because those are the waters that are easy to explore, so that’s where we found ship wrecks.
I feel like archaeology and more generally natural history is full of people jumping to generalizations based on one incomplete data point (though I can’t cite an example immediately, I admit).
Fantastic, very exciting. But… jugs? The article also calls them jars, but several times, jugs!?
It means the jars have handles.
Amphora
Along with the possibility that finding this wreck where it lay might demonstrate the opposite as to claimed navigational sophistication unsuspected till now (ie. the crew got lost because they couldn’t navigate their way out of a paper bag) it also shows that the eternal quest for more, ever more, fossil fuels is a good thing because you never know when these greedy bastards might stumble on a piece of History—Bravo! Keep it up!
At one time I could rattle off a number of branches of the jar family of vessels. I just don’t remember “jugs” in the ancient family tree.
But I’m old, forgetful, and never particularly knowledgable.
Little brown amphora, how I adore ya.