Bronze Age sunken ship discovered off Israeli coast

A natural gas company uncovered the remains of a 3,300-year-old ship about 55 miles off Israel’s northern coast, the Israel Antiquities Authority said on Thursday. The company, Energean, located the wreck about one mile below the surface while surveying the Eastern Mediterranean seafloor. Archaeologists examined storage jars, called amphorae, that were found on the ship. They determined that the vessel likely sank between 1400 and 1300 B.C. The boat and its cargo were fully intact, according to the IAA.

Why is the find so significant? The ship is the first of its kind to be found so far from shore in the area, according to a translation of a social media post by IAA. The discovery indicates that ancient people sailed further out to sea than previously thought, said Jacob Sharvit, the head of the IAA marine unit. Two similar ships from the era have been found closer to shore, he said. While the IAA does not plan to retrieve the ship, Energean worked with the authority to retrieve two amphorae that archaeologists decided were of Canaanite origin. 

Dig deeper: Listen to Nick Eicher’s report on The World and Everything in It about another ancient discovery in Israel.