Ma’agan Mikhael B Shipwreck

The Ma‘agan Mikhael B shipwreck is the remains of a 24-m-long merchantman, dated to the late 7th to early 8th centuries A.D. The shipwreck site is located at kibbutz Ma‘agan Mikhael on the Mediterranean coast of Israel, about 70 m offshore, at a maximum water depth of 3 m, under 1.5 m of sand. It was excavated over eight seasons, during which the hull was exposed and documented in detail. The hull remains, comprising the keel, endposts, aprons, framing timbers, hull planks, central longitudinal timbers, stringers, bulkheads, and the mast-step assembly, are in a good state of preservation. The carpentry details showed that the ship was built to a high standard.

The rigging elements found in the shipwreck—a hook-shaped masthead fitting with sheaves, blocks, ropes, the mast-step assembly, and pieces of fabric—which might be remnants of the sail, allowed the ship to be reconstructed as a lateen-rigged merchantman. The hook-shaped masthead with its two sheaves is a unique example of such an artifact in context. It also confirms that the iconographic evidence of such mastheads is reliable as a depiction of lateen-rigged ships of the period, and sheds new light on eastern Mediterranean sailing during Late Antiquity.

The most significant find was the large ceramic assemblage, including about 250 amphorae, as well as juglets, bowls, and cooking wares, rendering it the largest maritime assemblage discovered in Israeli waters to date. About half of the jars were pitch-lined and contained remains of various foodstuffs: raisins or grapes, olives, dates, walnuts, pistachio, pine nuts, and fish. Thin section petrographic analysis indicates that the ceramics originated in Cyprus, Egypt, and the Levant, indicating an eastern Mediterranean route of the last voyage of the ship. Inscriptions in Arabic and Greek, Christian symbols, and Muslim phrases inscribed on intact amphorae and body sherds, and carved into several timbers, indicate both Muslim and Christian origins.

The ship also carried more than 870 fragments of glass vessels, as well as lumps of raw glass and cullet. These items were probably designated for recycling, indicating the ship’s participation in the extensive maritime trade between glass workshops in Israel and Egypt. This was the first time that a glass cargo discovered in situ in a shipwreck from the Early Islamic period has been studied in detail using typological and analytical methods. In addition, animal bones were recovered, and butchery marks suggest that meat was consumed on the ship.

The study of the ship’s design and construction methods continues. The sheer quantity and variety of finds from the Ma‘agan Mikhael B shipwreck seem to suggest that a relatively extensive network of maritime trade may have operated in the region during the 7th and 8th centuries A.D. The research has produced significant achievements, some of which have yet to be published.

The underwater excavations and research of the Ma‘agan Mikhael B shipwreck were supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 1891/16); Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Texas A&M University (grant no. 039); the Honor Frost Foundation; the President and the Research Authority of the University of Haifa; Kibbutz Ma‘agan Mikhael; and anonymous donors.