The Uluburun shipwreck is an ancient shipwreck from the late bronze age, circa 1300 BCE. The single masted wooden vessel went down off the southern coast of Anatolia, or modern day Türkiye. The wreck was discovered in 1982 by a sponge diver, and in 1984 the Institute of Nautical Archaeology began excavation. Over the next 10 years, the research team completely excavated the site. What they found in the cargo hold changed what we believed of trade between these civilizations. The area was part of a massive trade network spanning from Afghanistan to the Italian peninsula.
Joining me for this episode is Dr. Eric Cline. Dr. Cline is the author of 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed, as well as Professor of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies and of Anthropology at George Washington University and Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute.
Cargo included:
- 149 (possibly more) Canaanite jars of terebinth resin
- Approximately 175 Glass ingots
- Miscellaneous cargo
- Ebony logs from Egypt
- Ivory from elephant tusks and a dozen hippopotamus teeth
- Tortoise carapaces
- Murex opercula
- Ostrich eggshells, Cypriot pottery, Cypriot oil lamps.
- Bronze and copper drinking vessels
- Two duck-shaped ivory cosmetics boxes, Ivory cosmetics or unguent spoon, trumpet, More than two dozen sea-shell rings, amber beads, agate, carnelian, quartz, gold, faience, glass
- Jewelry, gold, and silver
- Various scrap gold and silver, ornamentals
- Weapons and tools
- Arrowheads, Spearheads, Maces, Daggers, Lugged shaft-hole axe, A single armor scale of Near Eastern type, Four swords, Large number of tools: sickles, awls, drill bits, a saw, a pair of tongs, chisels, axes, a ploughshare, whetstones, and adzes.
- Pan-balance weights
- 19 zoomorphic weights
- 120 geometric-shaped weights
- Food Items
- Almonds, Pine nuts, Figs, Olives, Grapes, Safflower, Black cumin, Sumac, Coriander, Whole pomegranates, A few grains of charred wheat and barley”
Gallery
Sources
- Cline, Eric H. 1177 B.C. : The Year Civilization Collapsed. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2015.
- https://nauticalarch.org/projects/uluburun-late-bronze-age-shipwreck-excavation/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9710885/
- https://www.worldhistory.org/Uluburun_Shipwreck/
- https://www.thecollector.com/phoenicians-canaanites-history-of-lebanon/
- https://source.wustl.edu/2022/11/findings-from-2000-year-old-uluburun-shipwreck-reveal-complex-trade-network/
- https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=3091
- https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/12/new-study-of-uluburun-shipwreck-reveals-ancient-trade-network/145420
- https://arkeonews.net/new-findings-from-3000-year-old-uluburun-shipwreck-uzbekistan-nomads-supplied-a-third-of-the-bronze-used-across-ancient-mediterranean/
- https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/a-2-000-year-old-shipwreck-reveals-ancient-trade-routes
- https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/uluburun-one-oldest-and-wealthiest-shipwrecks-ever-discovered-001962
- https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2022/10/the-fantastic-cargo-of-the-uluburun-a-bronze-age-ship-of-uncertain-origin/#:~:text=The%20wreck%20and%20the%20ship,in%20the%20province%20of%20Antalya.
- https://luwianstudies.org/late-bronze-age-shipwrecks/
- https://www.scirp.org/pdf/ad_2021070913543402.pdf
- https://blogs.brown.edu/archaeology/2014/04/04/mapping-in-time-and-space-project-3-uluburun-shipwreck/
- https://copper.org/education/history/60centuries/raw_material/thebeginnings.php#:~:text=The%20earliest%20definite%20date%20usually,and%20variable%20percentages%20of%20tin.
- https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/maritimearchaeology11/files/18756378.pdf