Byzantine trade ship

byzantine merchant shipThousands of years ago, maritime trade depended on these little wooden boats. This particular ship was found in 1958 by Turkish fishermen 150 meters away from Yassıada, at depth of 32 meters. In 1960,  underwater archeological studies started. The findings in the wreck included coins which dated around 625 AD. The wreck was a merchant ship 21.3 meters long 6.4 meters wide. Displacement of the ship was around 60 tons. The ship was made of cypress wood. A little superstructure was found on the aft side and there were kitchen tools and oil lamps over there. To the midship, a single mast was found. and ofcourse the cargo. 900 amphoraes of wine. The ship had a square sail. Surprisingly, the wreck give almost every clue of the ship’s shape.

After long years, in Istanbul, Marmaray metro Project revealed a huge secret. Wherever you dig in Istanbul, you come across with history. This time the construction workers found an ancient harbor which dated 2000 years back from the farthest date ever known of Istanbul’s history. And there were 36 ship wrecks protected by thick mud almost intact. I am in contact with an archeologists working on the site and i am hoping to get new plans from those ships. I’ll be posting more information soon.

click here to download byzantine ship plans

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