The Uluburun Shipwreck

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The Uluburun Shipwreck In 1982, at Uluburun, a rocky outcrop on the southern coast of Turkey, a sponge diver found what turned out to be one the earliest shipwrecks known to date.

1 The Uluburun Shipwreck In 1982, at Uluburun, a rocky outcrop on the southern coast of Turkey, a sponge diver found what turned out to be one the earliest shipwrecks known to date. From , marine archaeologists excavated, studied, and preserved the merchant ship and its contents. Today, the work continues, and the ship and artifacts are displayed at the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology in Turkey. The Uluburun shipwreck is dated to about1306 BCE, during the Bronze Age. It contained one of the largest and richest cargoes in the history of Mediterranean archaeology. In this handout, a selection of artifacts from the Uluburun shipwreck are shown. At the end of the handout is a list of the complete inventory on the ship. Students can see the full image gallery with captions at the website listed. Image source: The Institute of Nautical Archaeology's (INA) graciously displays an online gallery of artifacts at shipwreck excavation at Photo Galleries - Institute of Nautical Archaeology. For the full report on the Uluburun Shipwreck, see Cemal Pulak, The Uluburun Shipwreck and the Late Bronze Age, in Aruz, Joan, Kim Benzel, Jean M Evans, and N.Y.) Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York. Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C. New York; New Haven: Metropolitan Museum of Art ; Yale University Press,

2 Copper ingot from Cyprus mine, in the shape of an oxhide. There were 354 of these arranged in rows in the hold of the ship. Tin ingot in oxhide shape, mined in Asia Minor or farther east in Central Asia. 2

3 Figurine of a woman in bronze with gold overlays. Hippopotamus teeth (13 total on the ship). Ebony wood logs. 3

4 Amber beads from the Baltic Sea. Blue glass ingots (raw material for making glass objects) from Egypt or Canaan. Bronze spearheads from the Balkans. 4

5 Gold scarab with the name of Queen Nefertiti of Egypt, wife of Akhenaton. Carved ivory cosmetic box with hinged wing cover. Assortment of beads in agate stone and faience (a technique the Mycenaeans adopted from Egypt). 5

6 Gold pendant with fertility figure (Astarte, Isis) holding gazelles. Bronze weights in the shape of lions. 6

warrior. Wooden writing tablet with two leaves and ivory hinges.

7 Hematite cylinder seal from Mesopotamia, carved during the Old Babylonian period and re- carved during Assyrian period, with winged griffin and warrior. Wooden writing tablet with two leaves and ivory hinges. The recessed space in the middle was for pouring wax on which to scratch the writing. 7

Mycenaean ceramic jar, may have been for scented

White ceramic milk bowl shown from the bottom,

8 Mycenaean ceramic jar, may have been for scented oil. Ceramic oil lamps from Cyprus (some Syrian lamps on board were blackened from use by the crew). White ceramic milk bowl shown from the bottom, made in Syria or Cyprus, found with other ceramic objects packed into a large krater vessel for shipping. 8

9 INVENTORY OF CARGO ON THE ULUBURUN SHIPWRECK Copper and tin ingots Raw copper cargo totaled 10 tons, consisting of a total of 354 ingots of the oxhide type with either four or two handles. (Ingots were stowed in rows across the ship s hold, with matting and brushwood between the hull and the ingots to prevent rubbing.) 2-handled ingots were probably designed to be attached to saddles or harnesses for transport by pack animals. 121 copper bun and oval ingots. Tin ingots in oxhide and bun shapes totaled 1 ton, which would make 11 tons of bronze in a 1:10 ratio for the alloy, or mixture of tin and copper. Canaanite jars At least 149 Canaanite jars (widely found in Greece, Cyprus, Syria- Palestine, and Egypt, but made in the northern part of today s Israel/Palestine). Jars contents include one filled with glass beads, many with the remains of olives, and the largest number with a type of resin called Terebinth or Pistacia, used to preserve and scent wine and other uses such as turpentine. Recent clay fabric analyses of Canaanite jar sherds from the 18th-Dynasty site of Tell el-amarna have produced a specific clay fabric designation, and it is seemingly the same as that from the Uluburun shipwreck, of a type that is exclusively associated in Amarna with transporting Pistacia resin. Glass ingots Ca. 175 colored glass ingots (cobalt blue turquoise and lavender, the earliest intact glass ingots known). Chemical composition of cobalt blue glass ingots matches those of contemporary Egyptian core-formed vessels and Mycenaean pendant beads, which suggests a common source. Other cargo objects Ebony wood Elephant tusks Hippopotamus teeth Tortoise shells Murex shell parts (might be used for making incense) 9

10 Ostrich egg shells Pottery from Cyprus Oil lamps from Cyprus Bronze and copper vessels Faience drinking cups shaped as rams heads and one shaped as a woman s head) Two duck-shaped ivory cosmetics boxes Ivory cosmetics or medicine spoon Trumpet Over two dozen sea-shell rings Amber beads from the Baltic Sea region Beads of agate, carnelian, quartz, gold, faience, and glass Jewelry, gold, and silver 37 pieces of jewelry in gold and silver (from Canaan), including scrap for melting down and re-use. The gold pieces include pectorals, medallions, pendants, beads, a small ring ingot, and scrap fragments. A drinking cup, or chalice Objects made of gold, electrum, silver, and steatite (soapstone) from Egypt Gold scarab inscribed with the name of Nefertiti Bronze female figurine (head, neck, hands, and feet covered in sheet gold) Weapons and tools Arrowheads Spearheads Maces Daggers Axe made with a hole for the handle or shaft A scale for a suit of armor (Near Eastern type) Four swords (Canaanite, Mycenaean, and Italian(?) types) Tools: sickles, awls, drill bits, a saw, a pair of tongs, chisels, axes, a ploughshare, whetstones, and adzes Merchants balance weights 19 weights in the shape of animals 120 weights in geometric shapes Food items (traces and fragments found in the wreck that were analyzed by the archaeologists) 10

11 Almonds Pine nuts Figs Olives Grapes Safflower Black cumin Sumac Coriander Whole pomegranates Grains of charred wheat and barley 11

APPENDIX 2 CHILDREN S BURIALS AT DEIR EL-MEDINA

469 APPENDIX 2 CHILDREN S BURIALS AT DEIR EL-MEDINA This Appendix collates all burials of children known from Deir el-medina. Given the differing levels of preservation between the Eastern and Western