Tableware from a 2,100-year-old ship raised off Turkey’s coast — Anadolu Agency
Archaeologists have raised thousands of ceramic items from a merchant ship that sank about 2,100 years ago near Adrasan in Turkey’s Antalya province. The finds include plates, bowls and trays in 122 different shapes and sizes.
Underwater excavations began in 2025. As Anadolu Agency reports, the vessel was carrying ceramic tableware from the ancient Mediterranean. Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism believes that the main part of the cargo consisted of plates and bowls that may have originated from the ancient settlement of Rhosus, now located in the Arsuz district of Hatay province.
Tableware for trade in the Mediterranean
Among the items discovered were nut plates, soup bowls, fish plates and trays of various sizes. The ministry said that such tableware was in demand in Rome and belonged to luxury goods traded in the Mediterranean. Amphorae, likely made on some Aegean islands, were also found at the shipwreck site. This indicates that the ship was carrying goods from several production centers.
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Ceramics from Rhosus were mentioned by the Roman statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero. According to the ministry, in a letter to Atticus in 50 BC, he wrote that he had ordered ceramic vessels from Rhosus for a friend.
How the cargo was preserved
Many of the plates and bowls have survived in good condition thanks to the packing method. The ceramics were placed in wooden boxes and cushioned with clay. This was intended to protect the items from damage when the vessel sank and contributed to their preservation for more than two millennia.
Coins from Antioch dating to the 1st century BC help date the shipwreck. Researchers believe the vessel was traveling along a trade route linking Antioch, the Aegean region, Greece and the coast of Italy in the middle of the 1st century BC. In their view, the ship departed from Rhosus and was likely heading to Rome when it struck a shallow area during a storm and sank. The vessel’s remains lie at depths of 42 to 55 meters, and underwater robots assist archaeologists in their work.
