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
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 m
36.1275° N · 29.6861° ECopper Oxhide Ingot Mound
cargo concentration354 ingots ~10 t primary cargo mound
36.1274° N · 29.6860° EBodrum Museum Display (translocated)
museumReconstructed wreck and cargo at Bodrum Castle Museum
37.0318° N · 27.4294° E
Gallery