Uluburun Wreck — Late Bronze Age Royal Cargo Reef (Kolpos)
Late Bronze Age (c.1320 BCE) Palatial cargo ship 15–16 m·Canaanite (?) mixed Levantine-Mycenaean-Egyptian royal cargo with Uluburun copper/tin 10 t/1 t·🇹🇷 Mediterranean, Kaş-Ulupınar, Uluburun promontory, 8 km SE Kaş, Antalya coast, granite reef near Çayboğazı, Turkey
About
About Uluburun Wreck — Late Bronze Age Royal Cargo Reef (Kolpos)
Uluburun excavated by Bass & Pulak, 1300 BCE greatest bronze age cargo 10 t copper. Recorded context — Period: Late Bronze Age (c.1320 BCE) Palatial cargo ship 15–16 m; Culture: Canaanite (?) mixed Levantine-Mycenaean-Egyptian royal cargo with Uluburun copper/tin 10 t/1 t; Field status: excavated; Materials: cedar hull, copper ingots (354 oxhide), tin ingots (121), Mycenaean pottery; Condition: cargo to Bodrum museum — hull recovered.
Why it mattersKey Canaanite (?) mixed Levantine-Mycenaean-Egyptian royal cargo with Uluburun copper/tin 10 t/1 t submerged-city with stratified sequence and regional typology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Trade network extent
- 02Construction labor organization
Theories
- 01Observatory
- 02Elite residence
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. 1320 BCE wreck (Hallstatt dated bronze? No late Bronze 1320)
- Period
- Late Bronze Age (c.1320 BCE) Palatial cargo ship 15–16 m
- Culture
- Canaanite (?) mixed Levantine-Mycenaean-Egyptian royal cargo with Uluburun copper/tin 10 t/1 t
- Purpose
- Oldest royal wreck of world — 20 t cargo (10 t copper ox-hide ingots 354, 1 t tin, Canaanite jars 149, Mycenaean, 1 t terebinth resin) on 45° reef 48 m
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 1903
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 1320 BCE wreck (Hallstatt dated bronze? No late Bronze 1320)
Initial construction / first occupation at Uluburun Wreck — Late Bronze Age Royal Cargo Reef (Kolpos)
1890 excavation
Modern rediscovery and scientific excavation of Uluburun Wreck — Late Bronze Age Royal Cargo Reef (Kolpos)
On the ground
Structures & features
36.1250° N · 29.6860° E · -48 m · 3 mapped features
- Uluburun Wreck — Late Bronze Age Royal Cargo Reef (Kolpos) — Principal Harbourharbourharbour at Uluburun Wreck — Late Bronze Age Royal Cargo Reef (Kolpos) — outlier feature36.1245° N · 29.6862° E
- Uluburun Wreck — Late Bronze Age Royal Cargo Reef (Kolpos) — Northern Wallwallwall at Uluburun Wreck — Late Bronze Age Royal Cargo Reef (Kolpos) — hydraulic feature36.1231° N · 29.6861° E
- Uluburun Wreck — Late Bronze Age Royal Cargo Reef (Kolpos) — Southern Templetempletemple at Uluburun Wreck — Late Bronze Age Royal Cargo Reef (Kolpos) — outlier feature36.1249° N · 29.6852° E