This wreck is valuable to historians
and archeologists because of the evidence and information it provides about trade in the
region and about open-water trade routes in general. The fact that there are several other
similar wrecks in the same region is extremely interesting for several reasons:
1. If they are all from the same
general period or time frame, they may provide detailed information about long distance
trade over open water at a specific moment in history. This is significant because
conventional archaeological wisdom believes that ancient sailors navigated by hugging the
coast. Additionally, if the wrecks are from a single fleet that was lost all at once it is
a fascinating mystery in itself.
2. If the wrecks span many
generations, then, it may provide new and important evidence about trade between Crete,
Cyprus, Turkey, and Egypt, over a broad span of time. This would be the first evidence of
sustained open-water traffic in the ancient world.
3. More exciting is the possibility
that one of the other targets Nauticos discovered is a Minoan shipwreck. The Minoans ruled
Crete and most of the Aegean in the Early-Middle Bronze Age, establishing a thallassocracy
throughout the ancient near east, but no trace of a shipwreck has ever been located. The
oldest know shipwrecks discovered date to the Late Bronze Age, at Cape Gelidonya and Ulu
Burun in Turkey. Both have been excavated during the past 35 years by INA.Equally exciting
would be a ship from Egypt or the Near East from the Bronze Age, or a Mycenaean or
Phoenician shipwreck from the Iron Age.
Fig. 11: Artistic rendering of the Kyrenia at a
Busy Ancient Seaport.
Image courtesy of www.windowoncyprus.com
