The New York Times on the discovery of a ship that went down in the Mediterranean in the 14th or 15th century BCE. As a a huge body magical practices and formula still in use by some magicians arose in this area from this time into Late Antiquity and Beyond (“Hail unto thee who art Ra in thy rising…”) this might be of interest to y’all. The story begins:
Remains of the oldest shipwreck ever discovered in deep water, and perhaps the oldest complete wreck in any water, have been located in the Mediterranean Sea about 56 miles off the coast of northern Israel.
The Israel Antiquities Authority, which announced the find on Thursday, said that preliminary examination of two clay jars known as Canaanite amphorae indicated that the merchant vessel, an estimated 39 to 46 feet long, sank sometime between 1400 B.C. and 1300 B.C., an epoch when the Egyptian empire stretched from what is now northern Syria to Sudan, and the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun briefly sat on the throne.
thanks to Soror Amy for the tip!
