Turkiye’s Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has announced the alleged recovery of ancient treasures from what authorities claim is “the world’s oldest shipwreck,” discovered during underwater excavations near Kekova Island in the southern Antalya province.

While the vessel’s wooden hull reportedly failed to survive the millennia, archaeologists managed to retrieve ancient ceramic storage jars dating back 4,700 years to the Early Bronze Age. The ministry asserts these vessels were used for transporting olive oil or wine, pointing to supposed early maritime trade networks across the eastern Mediterranean.

Hakan Oniz, an associate professor of archaeology at Akdeniz University who directed the project, stated that when the team first encountered the wreck four years ago, the jars were mistakenly thought to be only a century or two old. Researchers purportedly realized their true antiquity only after noticing similar amphora forms in publications on Egyptian archaeology near the Giza pyramids.

Clay analysis allegedly indicates the containers were manufactured in Jordan Valley workshops, matching styles found across Egypt, Turkiye, and Greece. One vessel featured a distinct design with markings and holes, which researchers speculate might have been utilized for churning butter or cheese during the voyage from the Levantine coast toward modern-day Turkiye or Crete.

Source: www.aljazeera.com