Kyrenia ship

The Kyrenia ship is considered the best preserved ancient ship in the Levantine Sea. It is issued in the Shipwreck Museum in the fortress of Kyrenia in Cyprus.

The ship

The original length of the vessel is indicated with 14,75 m, width 4.2 m ( at the bow and stern each 1,4 m ); the corresponding sail area is estimated to be 64 m. As a building material for hull and superstructure mainly wood of Aleppo pine from Samos and Cyprus was used. There are also small amounts of beech, oak and oleander wood.

The traces found suggest there exists a field between Syria and Dodecanese, including Cyprus and the Anatolian coast. The volcanic rock that served as ballast, comes from Kos.

History

The Kyrenia ship sank about 300 BC It contained about 400 wine amphorae from Rhodes. Coins In wreck found were minted 316-294 BC, almonds from the cargo delivered a 14C date of 212 ± 130 BC, during the ship's hull, which was made from the wood of large old trees, a date of 345 ± 90 BC revealed.

The ages for the ship to destruction time are 300 and 70 years. Found spearheads suggest that the ship sank during a pirate attack, which could also explain the meager finds of personal belongings of the crew. This probably included four men, since the household found was counted accordingly.

History of Research

On November 20, 1965, the sponge divers Andreas Karolou discovered the wreck about a mile east of the harbor town of Kyrenia off the northern coast of Cyprus.

In 1967 a team of divers, archaeologists and other scientists began - a total of 54 specialists under the direction of Michael Katzev, archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania - with the salvage of the ship. It has been restored and is housed in the castle of Kyrenia.

Resonance

1985 ran under the scientific supervision a replica under the name Kyrenia II from the stack. Meanwhile, another replica was made under the name of Kyrenia Liberty, this time using today's manufacturing techniques.

The ship Kyrenia II was built as part of experimental archeology and tested to determine its suitability for long journeys. Trips to New York City ( 1986), Fukuoka (1988) and the 800th anniversary of the port of Hamburg brought important insights into the ways of ancient shipbuilding.

The ship became a symbol of the island and established itself as a "floating ambassador " of the Republic of Cyprus. After the visit to Japan was in Fukuoka another replica, the Kyrenia III.

The ship of Kyrenia is on the Cypriot 10 - mapped and 50-cent coins - 20.