13th century Canaan was an international maritime trading Kingdom

[shunyadragon]

Source: https://www.sci.news/archaeology/shipwreck-canaanite-amphorae-13042.html

3,300-Year-Old Shipwreck Loaded with Canaanite Amphorae Discovered in Mediterranean Sea

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Source: https://www.sci.news/archaeology/shipwreck-canaanite-amphorae-13042.html

Jun 24, 2024 by News Staff
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Next »The ancient ship and its cargo is estimated to be from the 13th century BCE, making it one of the oldest shipwrecks ever discovered.
The Canaanite amphorae from the 3,300-year-old shipwreck. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

The 3,300-year-old shipwreck was found 90 km (56 miles) from Israel’s shore at a depth of 1.8 km (1.1 miles) on the Mediterranean Sea floor.

“The ship seems to have sunk in crisis, either due to a storm or to an attempted piracy attack,” said Dr. Jacob Sharvit, head of the marine unit at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“This is both the first and the oldest ship found in the Eastern Mediterranean deep sea, 90 km from the nearest shore.”

“This is a world-class history-changing discovery: this find reveals to us as never before the ancient mariners’ navigational skills — capable of traversing the Mediterranean Sea without a line of sight to any coast. From this geographical point, only the horizon is visible all around.”

“To navigate they probably used the celestial bodies, by taking sightings and angles of the Sun and star positions.”

The discovery was made during an environmental survey of the seabed by a team from London-based natural gas production company Energean.

“As part of our ongoing activity to discover and extract natural gas from the deep sea, we conduct surveys that check different parameters, using an advanced submersible robot to scour the seafloor,” said Dr. Karnit Bahartan, head of the environmental staff at Energean.

“About a year ago, during a survey, we saw the unusual sight of what seemed to be a large pile of jugs heaped on the seafloor.”

“We are in ongoing contact with the Israel Antiquities Authority, and when we sent them the images it turned out to be a sensational discovery, far beyond what we could imagine.”
The 3,300-year-old shipwreck on the Mediterranean Sea floor. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

“The robot’s survey and mapping of the site clarified this to be a sunken ship ca. 12-14 m (39-46 feet) long that was transporting hundreds of Late Bronze Age Canaanite storage vessels, of which only some are visible above the ocean floor,” Dr. Sharvit said.

“The muddy bottom conceals a second layer of vessels, and it seems that wooden beams of the ship are also buried within the mud.”

“The vessel type identified in the cargo was designed as the most efficient means of transporting relatively cheap and mass-produced products such as oil, wine and other agricultural products such as fruit.”

“Finding such a great quantity of amphorae on board one single ship is testimony to significant commercial ties between their country of origin and the ancient Near Eastern lands on the Mediterranean coast.”

“This is a truly sensational find. Only two other shipwrecks with cargo are known from the Late Bronze Age in the Mediterranean Sea — the boat from Cape Gelidonya and the Uluburun boat; both found off the Turkish coast.”

“Yet both of those shipwrecks were found relatively near the shore, and were accessible using normal diving equipment.”

“Based on these two finds, the academic assumption until now was that trade in that time was executed by safely flitting from port to port, hugging the coastline within eye contact.”

“The discovery of this boat now changes our entire understanding of ancient mariner abilities: it is the very first to be found at such a great distance with no line of sight to any landmass.”

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[rogue06]

But wasn't virtually every kingdom, except maybe for the most isolated, xenophobic ones, involved in international trade?

[shunyadragon]

But wasn't virtually every kingdom, except maybe for the most isolated, xenophobic ones, involved in international trade?

No, the Hebrews were not until maybe after 600 BCE.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

Source: https://www.sci.news/archaeology/shipwreck-canaanite-amphorae-13042.html

3,300-Year-Old Shipwreck Loaded with Canaanite Amphorae Discovered in Mediterranean Sea

© Copyright Original Source

Source: https://www.sci.news/archaeology/shipwreck-canaanite-amphorae-13042.html

Jun 24, 2024 by News Staff
« Previous
|
Next »The ancient ship and its cargo is estimated to be from the 13th century BCE, making it one of the oldest shipwrecks ever discovered.
The Canaanite amphorae from the 3,300-year-old shipwreck. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

The 3,300-year-old shipwreck was found 90 km (56 miles) from Israel’s shore at a depth of 1.8 km (1.1 miles) on the Mediterranean Sea floor.

“The ship seems to have sunk in crisis, either due to a storm or to an attempted piracy attack,” said Dr. Jacob Sharvit, head of the marine unit at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“This is both the first and the oldest ship found in the Eastern Mediterranean deep sea, 90 km from the nearest shore.”

“This is a world-class history-changing discovery: this find reveals to us as never before the ancient mariners’ navigational skills — capable of traversing the Mediterranean Sea without a line of sight to any coast. From this geographical point, only the horizon is visible all around.”

“To navigate they probably used the celestial bodies, by taking sightings and angles of the Sun and star positions.”

The discovery was made during an environmental survey of the seabed by a team from London-based natural gas production company Energean.

“As part of our ongoing activity to discover and extract natural gas from the deep sea, we conduct surveys that check different parameters, using an advanced submersible robot to scour the seafloor,” said Dr. Karnit Bahartan, head of the environmental staff at Energean.

“About a year ago, during a survey, we saw the unusual sight of what seemed to be a large pile of jugs heaped on the seafloor.”

“We are in ongoing contact with the Israel Antiquities Authority, and when we sent them the images it turned out to be a sensational discovery, far beyond what we could imagine.”
The 3,300-year-old shipwreck on the Mediterranean Sea floor. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

“The robot’s survey and mapping of the site clarified this to be a sunken ship ca. 12-14 m (39-46 feet) long that was transporting hundreds of Late Bronze Age Canaanite storage vessels, of which only some are visible above the ocean floor,” Dr. Sharvit said.

“The muddy bottom conceals a second layer of vessels, and it seems that wooden beams of the ship are also buried within the mud.”

“The vessel type identified in the cargo was designed as the most efficient means of transporting relatively cheap and mass-produced products such as oil, wine and other agricultural products such as fruit.”

“Finding such a great quantity of amphorae on board one single ship is testimony to significant commercial ties between their country of origin and the ancient Near Eastern lands on the Mediterranean coast.”

“This is a truly sensational find. Only two other shipwrecks with cargo are known from the Late Bronze Age in the Mediterranean Sea — the boat from Cape Gelidonya and the Uluburun boat; both found off the Turkish coast.”

“Yet both of those shipwrecks were found relatively near the shore, and were accessible using normal diving equipment.”

“Based on these two finds, the academic assumption until now was that trade in that time was executed by safely flitting from port to port, hugging the coastline within eye contact.”

“The discovery of this boat now changes our entire understanding of ancient mariner abilities: it is the very first to be found at such a great distance with no line of sight to any landmass.”

© Copyright Original Source

A fascinating discovery and further analysis will hopefully provide more evidence of the vessel's provenance.

[shunyadragon]

A fascinating discovery and further analysis will hopefully provide more evidence of the vessel's provenance.

One complication I see in retrospect is the question Phoenician or Canaanite?

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicia#

The Phoenicians directly succeeded the Bronze Age Canaanites, continuing their cultural traditions following the decline of most major cultures in the Late Bronze Age collapse and into the Iron Age without interruption. It is believed that they self-identified as Canaanites and referred to their land as Canaan, indicating a continuous cultural and geographical association.^[8] The name Phoenicia is an ancient Greek exonym that did not correspond precisely to a cohesive culture or society as it would have been understood natively.^[9] Therefore, the division between Canaanites and Phoenicians around 1200 BC is regarded as a modern and artificial division.

© Copyright Original Source

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

One complication I see in retrospect is the question Phoenician or Canaanite?

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicia#

The Phoenicians directly succeeded the Bronze Age Canaanites, continuing their cultural traditions following the decline of most major cultures in the Late Bronze Age collapse and into the Iron Age without interruption. It is believed that they self-identified as Canaanites and referred to their land as Canaan, indicating a continuous cultural and geographical association.^[8] The name Phoenicia is an ancient Greek exonym that did not correspond precisely to a cohesive culture or society as it would have been understood natively.^[9] Therefore, the division between Canaanites and Phoenicians around 1200 BC is regarded as a modern and artificial division.

© Copyright Original Source

You could read Anne Killibrew's chapter in The Oxford Handbook of the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean. Google Books have kindly provided the entire chapter gratis!

https://books.google.de/books?id=m6C...page&q&f=false

[rogue06]

No, the Hebrews were not until maybe after 600 BCE.

The fact that the Greek word for tunic or undergarment is khiton which is derived from the Hebrew word for tunic kutton-eth and that word goes back at least to Homer's time, strongly suggests trade between the Myceneans and ancient Hebrews.

Several major ancient trade routes went through the land including the so-called Via Maris and the King's Highway, which connected Egypt, Mesopotamia and Anatolia. It is inconceivable that absolutely no trading took place as merchants and their caravans passed through.

Finally, the "Curse Tablet" recently found at Mount Ebal contains the earliest example of written Hebrew including the tetragrammaton YHWH, dates from the 13th century B.C. and is written on lead that came from Greece. Seems like there was some trading going on.

[shunyadragon]

You could read Anne Killibrew's chapter in The Oxford Handbook of the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean. Google Books have kindly provided the entire chapter gratis!

https://books.google.de/books?id=m6C...page&q&f=false

Thank you for the reference!

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

Thank you for the reference!

My pleasure.

[shunyadragon]

The fact that the Greek word for tunic or undergarment is khiton which is derived from the Hebrew word for tunic kutton-eth and that word goes back at least to Homer's time, strongly suggests trade between the Myceneans and ancient Hebrews.

Several major ancient trade routes went through the land including the so-called Via Maris and the King's Highway, which connected Egypt, Mesopotamia and Anatolia. It is inconceivable that absolutely no trading took place as merchants and their caravans passed through.

I would not discount "some" trade involving the early Hebrew tribes, but The Hebrews were not remotely significant traders until the camel came to the Levant in the 9th century. It is well known that the development of written languages is directly related to the development of trade,

Maris and the King's Highway, which connected Egypt, Mesopotamia and Anatolia. was mainly a coastal trading route connecting Egypt to the North, By far the overwhelming dominant trade was Phoenician/Canaanite and Egyptian trade until the 9th century.

Finally, the "Curse Tablet" recently found at Mount Ebal contains the earliest example of written Hebrew including the tetragrammaton YHWH, dates from the 13th century B.C. and is written on lead that came from Greece. Seems like there was some trading going on.

The supposed "Curse Tablet" is controversial and not accepted widely for the overstated apologetic claims, and not supported by other finds of text. All known finds of documented text at the time were Phoenician/Canaanite text.

Source: https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2023-11-30/ty-article/new-studies-debunk-controversial-biblical-curse-tablet-from-mt-ebal/0000018c-20b6-d21c-abae-76bee75f0000

New Studies Debunk Controversial Biblical ‘Curse Tablet’ From Mt. Ebal


A lead tablet discovered at ‘Joshua’s altar’ in the West Bank was trumpeted as the oldest Hebrew inscription. Skeptics suspect it says nothing and the thing was a fishing weight

Look! It’s a 3,400-year-old inscribed lead tablet that could prove the historicity of the Bible. But actually there is no discernible writing on it and the purported tablet is likely a fishing-net weight commonly used in ancient times.

That’s the short version of the latest chapter in a bizarre archaeological row centered on a minuscule lead artifact and a contested ancient site in the West Bank, believed by some to be the biblical altar built by Joshua on Mt. Ebal.

The long version is a complex story involving a controversial excavation in a volatile conflict zone and sensational claims about what a single find there could tell us about the historicity of the Bible and the birth of the Hebrew language, all on the background of the political and religious strife engendered by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Now, an upcoming series of scientific studies is demolishing the initial astounding conclusions by the discoverers of the purported inscription. The studies propose instead that the find is a rather run-of-the-mill artifact and the entire brouhaha was just a biblical tempest in a teapot. But let’s take this one step at a time.

Last year, a team of researchers announced to great fanfare that their excavation of a cultic structure on Mt. Ebal in Samaria – in the northern West Bank – had yielded an extraordinary find: a lead tablet about two centimeters by two centimeters, inscribed with a curse in ancient Hebrew, and dating to the 14th or 13th century B.C.E. That would make this curse the earliest known text in Hebrew by centuries.

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