Iron Age Shipwrecks in Deep Water off Ashkelon, Israel

Abstract

In 1997, two shipwrecks were first discovered in the Mediterranean Sea west of Israel by the U.S. Navy's research Submarine NR-1. Further investigation in 1999 with the remotely operated vehicle system Medea/Jason found the wrecks to be from the eighth century B.C., the earliest known shipwrecks to be found in the deep sea. Both ships appear to be of Phoenician origin, laden with cargoes of fine wine destined for either Egypt or Carthage, when they were lost in a storm on the high seas. The ships lie upright on the seafloor at a depth of 400 m in a depression formed by the scour of bottom currents. Their discovery suggests that ancient mariners took direct routes to their destinations even if it meant traveling beyond sight of land.