Phoenician Ships Found
Dateline: 6/24/99Updated: 7/3/99
Dr. Ballard (first made famous for his discovery of the Titanic) has made another amazing discovery 1500 feet down on the ocean floor and 30 miles off the coast of Israel -- two Phoenician ships, upright, carrying a cargo of wine from 750-850 BC. Remarkably, because of the cold water and lack of sediment at such depths, the ships have been preserved almost perfectly. The wine, however, seeped through the amphorae. Besides wine amphorae, the team found an anchor, cooking pots, wine decanter, and incense stand. It is believed the storm-sunk ships, carrying a crew of six to twelve each, were part of a larger fleet headed from Tyre to Carthage.
"It's breathtaking," said Ballard, who interrupted a dinner with Israeli Navy officers in Tel Aviv yesterday to discuss the findings. "These are the only ships from the Iron Age that have ever been found."The team of archaeologists was led by Dr. Robert Ballard and Harvard University museum director, Lawrence E. Stager. One ship is 58 feet long (the largest preclassical vessel ever found) and the other 48 feet.
From The Providence Journal
The expedition will be featured in National Geographic Society's magazine which, along with the U.S. Office of Naval Research and New York philanthropist Leon Levy, financed the expedition.
Sources
(www.archaeology.org/9907/etc/pisa.html- accessed 6/24/99) A Cache of Vintage Ships - ArchaeologyShipwrecks said to be oldest ever found - USA Today
Ballard finds Phoenician ships dating to 850 B.C. - The Providence Journal
(/www.bostonherald.com/bostonherald/nat/ball06241999.htm - accessed 6/24/99) Ocean explorers find Phoenician treasure - Boston Herald
Phoenician Ships Found Intact on Ocean Floor - Salt Lake Tribune
(www.cbs.com/flat/story_163322.html - accessed 6/24/99) Preserved at Sea - CBS
(www.dallasnews.com:80/world/0624wor3ship.htm - accessed 6/24/99) 2,500-year-old ships found at bottom of Mediterranean - Dallas Morning News
(www2.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisStory=80682926 - 6/24/99) Explorers find wine of ancient mariners - Star Tribune
(www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9906/23/AM-Israel-AncientMariner.ap/index.html -accessed 6/24/99) Oldest deep sea shipwrecks ever found discovered off Israel - CNN
(www.foxnews.com/js_index.sml?content=/news/international/0623/i_ap_0623_98.sml - accessed 6/24/99) Oldest deep sea shipwrecks ever found discovered off Israel - Fox
