INSTITUTE OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY - Bodrum, Turkey |
| SERÇE LIMANI |
The following papers were written for the INA Newsletter in 1988. The whole publication is being prepared in Bodrum and College Station, where research and editing is still going on.
An 11th-Century Merchantman
- The Cargo: Diverse and Partly Unknown by Frederick van Doorninck, Jr.
- The Serçe Limani Glass by George F. Bass
- Reconstructing the Hull by J. Richard Steffy
- The amphoras: Old Jars from the North by Frederick van Doorninck, Jr.
- The anchors: A limited technology, A sophisticated design Frederick van Doorninck, Jr.
- A Medieval Arsenal by Joseph K. Schwarzer, II
- The "Gaming Pieces" by Ken Cassavoy
- The Rotary Querns by Curtis Runnels
. The Glass Wreck at Serçe Limani
During the summers of 1977 through 1979, the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and Texas A&M University excavated an early 11th-century shipwreck at Serçe Limani, a natural harbor on the Turkish coast directly north of Rhodes. In the early 11th century, the two principal powers in the eastern Mediterranean were the Byzantine Empire, which had dominion over the Balkans and Asia Minor, and the Moslem caliphate of the Fatimids, who ruled from Cairo, a realm that extended from Tunisia to just below the Byzantine city of Antioch in northern Syria. The shipwreck has been closely dated by Fatimid glass weights for weighing coins, the latest of which date to either 1024/25 or possibly 1021 /22. The sinking therefore occurred during the third decade of the 11th century, a time of improving Fatimid-Byzantine relations, affirmed by a peace treaty in 1027.
Almost a decade has passed since the shipwreck was excavated. The remains of the ship have been conserved and reconstructed, and considerable progress has been made in the study of many of the other finds. We will soon begin in earnest preparation of the first of several volumes planned for the final report. It seems timely therefore to offer to the readers of the INA Newsletter a brief overview of what we have learned to date about the ship, her cargoes, and her last voyage.
Sponsors for the excavation and study of artifacts include INA, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, Ashland Oil Inc., Anna C. & Oliver C. Colburn Fund.
Map of the site
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