A Phoenician ship that sunk in waters off Malta around BCE 700 has been discovered by divers, revealing an ancient cargo.
The Phoenician ship is roughly 50 feet long. The ancient vessel sits almost 400 feet beneath the waves, roughly a mile off the coast of Gozo, the second-largest island in Malta. Some researchers believe the shipwreck could be the oldest one ever discovered in the Mediterranean.
Owen Bonnici, Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government in Malta, made the announcement of the finding.
Included in the 900-year-old cargo were amphorae, shipping containers, usually constructed from clay. These vessels were constructed in seven distinct styles, suggesting the ship may have visited several ports before falling beneath the waves.
Divers also uncovered 20 grinding stones, manufactured from volcanic rock, each weighing as much as 75 pounds.
Phoenicia was an ancient Semitic civilization, located in modern-day Lebanon. Thriving between BCE 1550 and BCE 300, they were a seafaring people who navigated around the Mediterranean Sea, trading goods with other civilizations.
Phoenician merchants, sailing around the ancient world were known to Romans as the "traders in purple." This was due to their near-monopoly on purple dye, popular with royal rulers. The dye was made from the Murex snail, in an expensive and labor intensive process.
Discovery of the ancient shipwreck was made during work for the GROplan project. This mission explores new techniques in photogrammetry - the science of making measurements using photographs. The study is funded by the French National Research Agency. Researchers from the University of Malta are managing the study, in co-operation with scientists and institutions located in the United States and France.
"The whole operation is being supervised by the Superintendence of National Heritage," Times of Malta reported.
Announcement of the shipwreck was delayed until analysis of the ship and its cargo was completed by researchers. The exact location of the wreck is being withheld from the public in order to protect the artifact from treasure hunters.
"The shipwreck is well preserved and new software development tools are being created to compile data which in turn will be included in the National Inventory of Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands, a register of cultural property in Malta," the Malta Independent reports.
One researcher on the find told the press this shipwreck is typical for Phoenician ships discovered in the Mediterranean. Ships like this one would frequently stop in Malta, as well as Sardina, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean. Merchants aboard the ship were likely selling the grinding stones, the scientist revealed.
