Mahdia shipwreck
Off Mahdia, Tunisia (pin at the town; wreck lies offshore)
What happened
More than 2,000 years ago, a ship loaded with Greek works of art was sailing from Greece toward Italy, probably for wealthy Roman buyers. A storm drove it off course, and it sank off the coast of what is now Tunisia, in North Africa. In 1907, sponge divers found it about 40 metres deep.
Why it matters
Its cargo of bronze and marble statues, furniture and dozens of marble columns shows how Greek art was shipped to Rome. Its excavation was one of the first big underwater archaeology projects.
What came next
Divers in heavy helmets and weighted boots brought up most of the sculptures between 1907 and 1913. The finds are now displayed at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis.
Did you know?
The early divers wore boots with soles weighing 10 to 20 kg each so they could stand on the seabed.
Timeline
- c. 80 BCEThe ship sinks off Mahdia.
- June 1907Greek sponge divers find the wreck.
- 1907 to 1913Alfred Merlin leads the recovery of the cargo.
- 1993German and Tunisian experts carry out conservation work on the finds.