Five major sнιᴘwʀᴇcκs dating to more than 2,000 years old have been found to contain a subaquatic archaeological treasure hoard at the bottom of the Aegean Sea near Greece.
The Research Project Specializing in sнιᴘwʀᴇcκs
The Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities is a department within the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports , and this news of discovery rises from a three-year research project taking place from 2019-2021.
The team’s goals are to first identify and then document ancient sнιᴘwʀᴇcκs in the coastal zone eastern Aegean Sea, and these new results came under the directorship of maritime archaeologist Dr. Georgios Koutsouflakis, from June 15 to 29, 2019.
Publius Ovidius Naso, known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus and he twice mentioned the ancient Greek island of Lebinthus or Lebinthos in his works Ars Amatoria and the Metamorphoses.
He said in sagas that Daedalus and Icarus escaped Crete by “ flying over Lebinthus” and this legendary island is situated in the east of the Aegean Sea and known today as ‘Levitha’, between the islands of Amorgos and Leros in the municipality Leros, on the 37th parallel.
The Discovery of the sнιᴘwʀᴇcκs
The newly discovered sнιᴘwʀᴇcκs were once used to transport consumer products such as wines and one ship was found to have a huge anchor and held lots of amphorae (containers).
A report in the Greek City Times says “The granite anchor pole, which was found 148 feet (45 meters) down, dates back to the 6th century BC and weighs 882 pounds (400 kilograms), it is believed to have been used on a ‘colossal-sized ship’ and is the largest stone pillar from the Archaic period ever found in the Aegean”.
The archaeologists found the amphorae had originated in Knidos, Kos, and Rhodes, as well as Phoenicia and Carthage, and it dates to the 3rd century BC when the territory was under rulership of the Ptolemaic dynasty , which came to an end with the deaths of Cleopatra and her son.