Uluburun Late Bronze Age Shipwreck
Uluburun Batığı · Uluburun Grand Cape Wreck · Kaş Uluburun Wreck · Late Bronze Age Uluburun Ship
Late Bronze Age (14th c. BCE, c. 1320±15 BCE)·Canaanite/Cypriot/Mycenaean international (hull possibly Levantine)·🇹🇷 Antalya Province, Lycia, Turquoise Coast off Kaş, Turkey
Georges Jansoone (JoJan · CC BY-SA 3.0
About
About Uluburun Late Bronze Age Shipwreck
Dated dendrochronologically to 1320–1305 BCE (Cape Gelidonya terminus), discovered 1982 by Yalikavak sponge diver Mehmet Çakır 6 miles SE of Kaş on uneven shelf 44–52 m deep (artefacts to 61 m). Eleven INA campaigns (Wachsmann/Bass 1984–1994) excavated intact Late Bronze Age merchantman (~15–16 m, cedar hull) carrying 10 t Cypriot copper oxhide ingots, 1 t tin, 150 Canaanite jars of terebinth resin, Egyptian blue glass ingots, ivory, ebony, gold, Baltic amber, Mycenaean arms – direct evidence of Late Bronze Age east Mediterranean international trade. Displayed at Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology.
Why it mattersOldest intact deepwater wreck; Rosetta cargo for Late Bronze Age trade systems linking Egypt, Hatti, Mycenae, Assyria; copper isotope provenance revolutionized.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Ship's home port (Ugarit? Cypriot? Canaanite?)
- 02Why carrying 6 kg of scrap gold jewelry for recasting
Theories
- 01Royal gift embassy rather than pure merchant tramp — cargo mix matches Amarna letters gift inventories
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. 1330–1320 BCE (construction) – wrecked c. 1312 BCE dendro
- Period
- Late Bronze Age (14th c. BCE, c. 1320±15 BCE)
- Culture
- Canaanite/Cypriot/Mycenaean international (hull possibly Levantine)
- Purpose
- Long-distance tramp freighter from Levant/Cyprus toward Aegean
- Abandoned
- Wrecked on Uluburun headland reef – storm or navigational error
- Rediscovered
- Summer 1982 sponge diver; INA excavation 1984–1994
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 1320 BCE
Ship sails from Levant/Cyprus with mixed cargo
c. 1312 BCE
Wrecks on Uluburun reef, sinks to 50 m
1982
Sponge diver reports bronze ingot mound off Grand Cape
1984–1994
INA/Bodrum Museum complete excavation and hull recording
On the ground
Structures & features
36.1275° N · 29.6861° E · -46 m · 3 mapped features
- Uluburun Hull (shelf slope)shipwreckCedar hull remains on slope 44–52 m36.1275° N · 29.6861° E
- Copper Oxhide Ingot Moundcargo concentration354 ingots ~10 t primary cargo mound36.1274° N · 29.6860° E
- Bodrum Museum Display (translocated)museumReconstructed wreck and cargo at Bodrum Castle Museum37.0318° N · 27.4294° E
Gallery