Malta: One of the oldest Phoenician shipwrecks found

Listen to this article As thetimesofmalta.com reports, in the waters near the island of Gozo, divers have found an ancient wreck, the remains of a Phoenician ship. The find is unusual in that, according to preliminary estimates, it is the oldest known object of its kind. The discovery site of the vessel is only 1

ByMałgorzata Brykała

Published: August 26, 2014 - 12:39

Updated: July 22, 2023 - 07:52

Malta: One of the oldest Phoenician shipwrecks found

Listen to this article

As thetimesofmalta.com reports, in the waters near the island of Gozo, divers have found an ancient wreck, the remains of a Phoenician ship. The find is unusual in that, according to preliminary estimates, it is the oldest known object of its kind.

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The discovery site of the vessel is only 1 mile from the island of Gozo. The Maltese island is one of the most popular diving locations in the region, but the depth at which the remains of the Phoenician ship are found effectively made the discovery difficult.

The ancient wreck is in fact located at a depth of 120m, which for most divers visiting Gozo is an impassable barrier. Archaeologists estimate that the find dates back to 700 BC! Which, as you can easily count, gives us an age of about 2700 years.

However, the depth was not a problem for the combined French, American and Maltese explorers who, thanks to specialised equipment, confirmed that there was a wreck at the bottom about 15m long and a cargo of about 50 amphorae. Of these, 7 different types were distinguished, indicating the eminently commercial nature of the vessel and its presence in many different ports.

Another part of the cargo was also found nearby in the form of 20 grinding stones, each weighing around 35kg. Samples of the find were taken and brought to the surface for further research. The local Ministry of Culture and National Heritage has assumed patronage and care of the whole project.

The discovery was made during the GROplan project, funded by the French National Research Agency. The aim of the project is to develop the technology of underwater photogrammetry – which, in short, can be called reconstruction of shapes, sizes and mutual position of objects in the field on the basis of collected data.

The Phoenicians were an ancient people living in what is now Lebanon, western Syria and northern Israel. They were known as outstanding traders. In antiquity they are regarded as the greatest sailors and traders of their time. For many years they were credited with “inventing” money as a means of payment. However, in recent years it has been proven wrong.

Source: thetimesofmalta.com
Photo: cc-by-sa-2.5,2.0,1.0