Oldest ship ever found off the coast of Israel discovered

The cargo of a 3.300-year-old ship with hundreds of intact amphorae was discovered 90 km from the coast at a depth of 1,8 km at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.

The cargo of a ship from 3.300 or 3.400 years ago, with hundreds of intact vessels, was found at a depth of 1,8 kilometers at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. The position was discovered during a study by Energean, the natural gas exploration and production company.

Jacob Sharvit, head of the IAA Marine Unit, explained that “the ship appears to have sunk in a crisis, either due to a storm or an attempted pirate attack, a well-known event in the Late Bronze Age. This is the first and the oldest ship found in the depths of the eastern Mediterranean, 90 kilometers from the nearest coast"

“This is a world-class discovery that will change history: andThis discovery reveals to us as never before the navigation skills of ancient sailors, capable of crossing the Mediterranean Sea without having a line of sight towards any coast.. From this geographical point you can only see the horizon around it. To navigate, they probably used celestial bodies, taking sightings and angles of the sun and the positions of the stars,” the expert explained.

“The study and mapping of the site by the robot clarified that it is a sunken ship ca. Between 12 and 14 meters long, she transported hundreds of vessels, only a few of which are visible on the ocean floor. The muddy bottom hides a second layer of boats and it seems that the wooden beams of the boat are also buried in the mud,” says Sharvit.

Over the course of two days of work at sea, the Energean team removed two vessels, each from a different end of the ship, to minimize disruption to the intact assembly of the ship and its cargo.

“The type of vessel identified in the cargo was designed as the most efficient means of transporting relatively cheap and mass-produced products, such as oil, wine and other agricultural products such as fruits. Finding such a large number of amphorae aboard a single ship is testament to important trade links between their country of origin and the lands of the ancient Near East on the Mediterranean coast,” Sharvit said.