Temasek – 14th-Century Singapore River Harbour
Old Singapore harbour · Temasek wharf · Singapore River early harbour
Srivijaya to Temasek (c. 1300–1400 CE)·Temasek Malay / Srivijaya / Yuan Chinese·🇸🇬 Central Region, Singapore River, Singapore
About
About Temasek – 14th-Century Singapore River Harbour
Temasek, 14th c. Malay entrepôt on the Singapore River before the Sultanate of Malacca, preserves a buried wharf 80 m along the river's north bank now 2 m under Empress Place, with postholes for timber piers and Song–Yuan sherds at 1.5 m. Miksic–Lim excavations (1984–2019) mapped the wharf's timber pier grid at +2 m asl (originally tidal) and offshore anchorage in the Singapore Roads with Majapahit coin hoard at –3 m. Temasek's hill–harbour axis (Fort Canning to Singapore River) sealed under 1.5 m colonial fill after British left harbourSilting. The wharf's glass bangle and Yuan porcelain layers anchor Temasek–Majapahit trade.
Why it mattersOnly pre-colonial Singapore wharf with intact pier grid; ceramics anchor 14th c. Yuan–Majapahit strait network and colonial-fill seal.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether Fort Canning glass bangle workshop linked to wharf
Theories
- 01Siamese 1400 sack dumped wharf fill sealing 14th c. horizon
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 1300 CE (Temasek wharf); piers 14th c.
- Period
- Srivijaya to Temasek (c. 1300–1400 CE)
- Culture
- Temasek Malay / Srivijaya / Yuan Chinese
- Purpose
- Strait transhipment port – aromatic woods, porcelain between Yuan and Majapahit
- Abandoned
- c. 1400 CE (Siamese sack and Malacca ascendancy)
- Rediscovered
- 1984 Miksic Fort Canning; 1990 Singapore River wharf trench
- Excavation
- Buried
1300 CE
Temasek wharf built on Singapore River north bank
2019
Empress Place timber pier grid exposed at 2 m depth
On the ground
Structures & features
1.2870° N · 103.8510° E · 2 m · 3 mapped features
Singapore River Wharf
quay80 m wharf buried 2 m – timber pier grid at Empress Place at Temasek – 14th-Century Singapore River Harbour
1.2880° N · 103.8520° EFort Canning Hill
structureHarbour hill axis – glass workshop on Fort Canning 30 m above at Temasek – 14th-Century Singapore River Harbour
1.2940° N · 103.8460° ESingapore Roads Anchorage
anchorageOffshore anchorage at –3 m – Majapahit coin hoard at Temasek – 14th-Century Singapore River Harbour
1.2830° N · 103.8500° E