Uluburun Shipwreck

Much of the text in what follows is straight from Wikipedia.

The Uluburun Shipwreck is a Late Bronze Age shipwreck dated to the late 14th century BC, discovered close to the east shore of Uluburun (Grand Cape), in south-western Turkey not far from today's Bodrum. The shipwreck was discovered in the summer of 1982 by Mehmed Çakir, a local sponge diver. Eleven consecutive campaigns of three to four months' duration took place from 1984 to 1994 totaling 22,413 dives, revealing one of the most spectacular Late Bronze Age assemblages to have emerged from the Mediterranean Sea.

That's what a small part of it looked like to the divers (after sone cleaning?):


What the divers saw Large picture
Source: Photographed May 2017 in the Bodrum museum

We have ox-hide copper ingots, amphoras, and round things (also copper ingots).

What the ship must have looked like in "longitudinal section" is shown in this picture:


The boat and its cargo "cut" lengthwise Large picture
Source: Photographed May 2017 in the Bodrum museum

The cargo included:

Copper: 354 ingots of the oxhide (rectangular with handholds extending from each corner) type and 121 copper bun and oval ingots
Tin: Approximately one ton of tin; oxhide and bun shaped ingots.
Amphorae / Jars: At least 149 Canaanite jars (widely found in Greece, Cyprus, Syria-Palestine, and Egypt). One jar filled with glass beads, many filled with olives, but the majority contained a substance known as Pistacia (terebinth) resin, an ancient type of turpentine.
Glass: Approximately 175 glass ingots; cobalt blue turquoise and lavender in color.
Miscellaneous: Logs of blackwood from Africa (referred to as ebony by the Egyptians); Ivory in the form of whole and partial hippopotamus and elephant tusks; Ostrich eggshells Cypriot pottery; Cypriot oil lamps; Bronze and copper vessels. Two duck-shaped ivory cosmetics boxes. More than two dozen sea-shell rings. Beads of amber (Baltic origin); Agate, Carnelian, Quartz, Gold Faience Glass.
Jewelry: Canaanite jewelry, 37 gold pieces including: pectorals, medallions, pendants, beads, a small ring ingot, and an assortment of fragments. a biconical chalice (largest gold object from wreck). Egyptian objects of gold, electrum, silver, and steatite (soap stone). A gold scarab inscribed with the name of Nefertiti. Bronze female figurine (head, neck, hands, and feet covered in sheet gold).
Weapons: Arrowheads, spearheads, maces, daggers, lugged shaft-hole axe. Four bronze swords (Canaanite, Mycenaean, and Italian(?) types).
Tools: A large number of tools included sickles, awls, drill bits, a saw, a pair of tongs, chisels, axes, a ploughshare, whetstones, and adzes

Below are some pictures of ingots. Besides the ox-hide shape we have a kind of two-handles (or half) ox-hide and just round "cakes". Some bear inscriptions or marks with not-so-clear purposes. There are also irregular shapes, possibly remains from large pieces.


Some copper and one tin ingot Large picture
Source: Photographed May 2017 in the Bodrum museum

Those parts of the museum that show the ship and models thereof are are kept in the dark but the pieces of the cargo are displayed in well-lit old-fashioned, glass cases with old-fashioned heavily reflecting glass. But that is much better than what you find in most modern high-tech museums that are infected with the "keep things in the dark" disease.

Here are some of these cases with their content. The first shows some of the weapons and special pottery.


Show case with pottery, weapons and some special artifacts Large picture
Source: Photographed May 2017 in the Bodrum museum


Show case with jewelry, gold and other precious stuff. Some obviously from Egypt. Large picture
Source: Photographed May 2017 in the Bodrum museum


Some tools. The inset shows a die for wire drawing that is contained in an other case.
Source: Photographed May 2017 in the Bodrum museum

Finally, a close-up of two daggers that shows the hilt construction. This is rather unusual since the typically organic matter used has long since decayed.


The hilts of two daggers, showing how it was "filled" with wood (?) and other stuff. Large picture
Source: Photographed May 2017 in the Bodrum museum

All things considered: If you are in Bodrum, you should definitely see the museum. There are many attractions in Bodrum - beach, sailing, fishing, shopping, etc. - but the museum is worth a visit.

With frame

Critical Museum Guide: Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus; Denmark

10.1.5 Copper Final

Large Pictures III