Despite the geographical remoteness from the European continent, Cyprus has never been a periphery. The proximity to Levant, Asia Minor and Egypt made it an important point of trade routes and military expeditions. The island regularly fell into the sphere of interests of powerful neighbors. At the same time, the presence of Greek colonies in Cyprus and the spread of the Greek language made it part of this ancient civilization.
Cyprus regularly appears on the pages of ancient works. However, for a long time, scientists did not know the scale of the involvement of the cities of the island into the life of the ancient world. It became possible to establish this thanks to finds on the seabed.
Archaeologists in abundance find objects of foreign origin in Cyprus, and already in the layers dating from the early copper century (2300-1850 BC). Trading and trade were the usual phenomenon in that era, not weakening in the middle (1850-1500 BC) and late (1500-1050 BC), the Copper Age. The main partners of the Cyprus were the states of the Middle East and the Aegean Sea, as evidenced by the finds in the ancient ports of Kition and Engomi (one of the ports near Famagusta, not to be confused with the area of Nicosia). Cyprus copper, in turn, was found on Sardinia and Spain, which indicates the trading routes that existed at that time. And where marine trade develops, shipwrecks will inevitably take place.
Surviving ships discovered in the waters of Cyprus gave science an idea of trading routes in the Mediterranean.
Kerinian ship
The legendary ship of Kerinia, the most ancient of the preserved wooden merchant ships in the world, was discovered on November 20, 1965 by Diver Andreas Cariola at a depth of about 30 meters. In 1967, at the invitation of the Department of Antiquities, a team of marine archaeologists, led by American scientist Michael Katsev, arrived on the island. The archaeological mission worked for about five years to disassemble the ship under water, raise it from the bottom in parts, collect and preserve it again. The ship was installed in the castle of Kerinia, where it is still located. In addition to the goods for sale, sinkers for fishing nets, about 100 tin rings for sails, bones from olives and grapes, the remains of figs, and even the head of garlic were found on the ship. This safety is due to the fact that the ship was 70% went into the sand. Scientists managed to establish that at the time of flooding the ship was already about 100 years old.
Read more about the ship of Kerinia and its copies here.
A ship in the Museum of Ancient Shipwriters in the Castle of Kerinia. Photo: "Bulletin of Cyprus"
Ship off the coast of Mazotos
Since November 2007, the department of archaeological research at the University of Cyprus has been exploring a ship that sank off the coast of Masotos. Amphoras for wine were found on board, mainly from Hios, but also from other islands of the Aegean Sea. One of the vessels was filled with olive bones. Perhaps these were supplies intended for crew members.
The ship in Masotos is considered one of the most well -preserved sustained ships of the region. The relics found there are associated with two outstanding nations-models-Greeks and Phoenicians. The research process included the use of digital photogrammetry and computer vision software. Scientists have developed a special method of documenting and mapping current excavations at the shipwreck site.
Photo UCY.AC.cy
