Kyrenia ship
Off Kyrenia, Cyprus (pin at Kyrenia Castle, where the ship is displayed)
What happened
More than 2,000 years ago, a small Greek trading ship sank about 2 km from the harbour of Kyrenia, on the north coast of Cyprus. It was carrying hundreds of clay jars called amphorae, most of them from the island of Rhodes, along with almonds and stone millstones. In the 1960s, a diver found the wreck about 33 metres deep.
Why it matters
It is one of the oldest ships ever raised from the sea with much of its wooden hull still in good condition. It shows how ancient Greek shipbuilders made their ships and what traders carried around the Mediterranean.
What came next
Archaeologists raised and reassembled the hull, which is now displayed in the Shipwreck Museum inside Kyrenia Castle. Full-size copies of the ship have been built, and one, Kyrenia II, has sailed as far as New York and Japan.
Did you know?
The ship was carrying more than 9,000 almonds, which scientists have used to help work out when it sank.
Timeline
- c. 294 BCEThe ship sinks off Kyrenia.
- 1965Diver Andreas Cariolou finds the wreck.
- 1968 to 1969A University of Pennsylvania team excavates the wreck.
- 1985A full-size replica, Kyrenia II, is built in Greece.