COURTESY EMIL ALADJEM / ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY
During a survey of the Mediterranean seafloor about 55 miles off the coast of Israel, the international energy company Energean happened upon a remarkable find: a shipwreck dating to the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550–1200 BCE).
The Energean crew were conducting their survey using cameras on a submersible, which enabled them to see the seafloor via the computer screens on their ship at the surface. When the crew glimpsed an enormous mound of half-buried storage jars—all that was visible of the sunken remains—they contacted the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), which identified the jars as Canaanite amphorae.
Although the IAA is planning more extensive excavations of the ship’s remains, located more than a mile below the surface, this remarkable discovery has already altered how experts understand Bronze Age seafaring; it demonstrates that mariners could traverse open water much earlier than previously thought. “The assumption until now was that trade in that time was executed by safely flitting from port to port, hugging the coastline within eye contact,” said Jacob Sharvit, who heads the IAA’s marine unit. “The discovery of this boat now changes our entire understanding of ancient mariner abilities.”
During a survey of the Mediterranean seafloor about 55 miles off the coast of Israel, the international energy company Energean happened upon a remarkable find: a shipwreck dating to the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550–1200 BCE). The Energean crew were conducting their survey using cameras on a submersible, which enabled them to see the seafloor via the computer screens on their ship at the surface. When the crew glimpsed an enormous mound of half-buried storage jars—all that was visible of the sunken remains—they contacted the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), which identified the jars as Canaanite amphorae. Although the IAA is […]
