Alexander's supply ship found?

[marcus]

In The Times today is an article about a 4th century supply ship that has been discovered off the coast of Bulgaria. It was carrying fish and other commodities, giving rise to the speculation that it might have been one of Alexander's supply ships, possibly bound for the garrisons he left behind in Asia Minor.Of course, there's nothing to prove this, but it is quite an interesting article.If you do pick up The Times, then it is also worth reading the article on Henri de Blowitz (in the Times 2 section). Absolutely nothing to do with Alexander, but extremely interesting all the same.There, don't say I never seek to educate my fellow Pothosians...All the bestMarcus

[Sandra]

Sorry, we haven't The Times here:(( What are the main speculations concerning the relation between ATG and this ship? Maybe some scientifical view?...

[susan]

There was something about it on cnn http://europe.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe ... index.html but it doesn't mention Alexander. It sounds rather speculative.Susan

[susan]

This is the article
Did wrecked ship carry the rations for Alexander's army?
By Mark Henderson


Jars of catfish steaks carried by a ship found beneath the Black Sea could be clues to an army diet in the 4th century BC. Our correspondent reports on a find that could shed fresh light on international trade in the Ancient World






A GREEK ship that may once have supplied Alexander the GreatGÇÖs soldiers and the fish markets of Athens has been discovered beneath the waters of the Black Sea by the explorer who found the Titanic and the Bismarck. The wreck, which foundered off the coast of what is now Bulgaria more than 2,200 years ago, has been located by the American oceanographer Robert Ballard and is already exciting archaeologists and historians with fresh insights into trade and diet in the Ancient Hellenic world.
Radiocarbon dating of its cargo, salted catfish steaks, has revealed that the vessel sank in the 4th or 5th century BC, during the maritime heyday of Athens or the conquests of Philip and Alexander of Macedon. It is by far the oldest wreck yet discovered in the Black Sea, where hundreds of Greek merchants plied their trade, and has great significance for understanding commercial and economic relationships in the region. As the chemical evidence makes a later date GÇö between 350BC and 300BC GÇö most likely, there is a strong possibility that the preserved fish was destined for the garrisons that Alexander the Great left in Asia Minor as he marched his armies to Persia and India. It could also have been sold in the markets of Athens, where dried, salted fish, known as tarichos, were an important element of the diet of the masses.
GÇ£This discovery provides historians with the first look at an actual wreck from a key era of trade in the Black Sea, known previously only from written records,GÇ¥ Dr Ballard, an explorer-in-residence with the National Geographic Society, said. GÇ£It is from a period when the Hellenic world was at its maximum extent and shows how far the Greeks were going for trade and tribute. It may be an example of how the Greeks exploited AlexanderGÇÖs conquests: the equivalent of the British getting their tea from Ceylon.GÇ¥ The remains of the ship were found last August on the final day of Dr BallardGÇÖs expedition. Three team members in a miniature submarine spotted rows of amphorae, clay jars for food, olive oil and wine, and one was recovered on a dive led by Dwight

[susan]

Dwight Coleman, chief scientist at Dr BallardGÇÖs Institute for Exploration in Mystic, Connecticut. Dozens of rows of amphorae, each more than 1m (3ft) tall, were arranged in at least two layers on a cargo deck about 13m long. Because the wreck was in relatively shallow water, just 84m deep, the wooden parts had been eaten away by molluscs and microbes, but its total length would probably have been at least 40m, Dr Ballard said. Inside the recovered amphora scientists found bones belonging to freshwater catfish, which had been cut up like modern fish steaks with cleaver marks still visible. Underneath the fish bones was a layer of resin, probably used as a sealant. Olive stones were also found, suggesting that the jar had been re-used. As the amphoraGÇÖs design was typical of Sinope, a Greek colony in northern Turkey today known as Sinop, and catfish are abundant in the Crimea, the discovery suggests that the ship was plying a well-worn trade route that followed prevailing winds around the Black Sea. Fred Hiebert, of Pennsylvania University, the expedition archaeologist, said the ship was probably heading for the Bosphorus and onwards to Greece when it sank in a sudden storm. The catfish bones have been radiocarbon dated to between 486BC and 276BC. Michael Whitby, Professor of Ancient History at Warwick University, said the discovery of catfish was significant as it was not known to play a big part in the Greek diet, although other fish did. GÇ£We know the Athenians were keen on salt fish,GÇ¥ he said. GÇ£While it was not technically part of the staple, it provided the extra protein hit you would put on your bread, the equivalent of gentlemanGÇÖs relish. We donGÇÖt have menus, so this is speculative, but in Athenian comedy there are references to political characters bribing the masses by cutting the price of sardines. GÇ£That suggests fish was important, and preserved catfish could have played a similar role. The Athenians traded extensively in the Black Sea, and had a taste for fish, so it is certainly possible.GÇ¥ The Macedonian diet was based more on meat than on fish owing to the regionGÇÖs rich agricultural lands, and AlexanderGÇÖs armies would normally have been too distant from the Black Sea to be supplied in this way, Professor Whitby said. Salt fish rations, however, could well have been provided for the large Athenian contingent in AlexanderGÇÖs navy, as well as for Athenian garrisons he left at towns

[susan]

in Asia Minor. Dr Ballard plans to return to the site, 20 miles from the port of Varna, this summer to conduct further investigations. He is particularly keen to excavate with Hercules, a new robot that uses sound to construct a virtual blueprint of the wreck. This work could reveal intact wooden portions of the vessel beneath the silt, and even the bones of its crew of between three and five. Other expeditions will seek further relics of Greek activity in the Black Sea. GÇ£We know the Greeks sailed and traded here for centuries; the whole legend of Jason and the Argonauts is set in the Black Sea,GÇ¥ he said. GÇ£We are going to be in the Black Sea for a long time to come.GÇ¥

[Sandra]

Thanks a lot!

[Sandra]

Thanks a lot!

[marcus]

I should say so - considering they gave it a date of +/- 130-odd years, the only real evidence that it had anything to do with Alexander comes from the fact that Alexander's dates fall in the middle of their range.Still, I suppose it goes to show that Alexander's name will still make headlines - or at least more column inches!Thanks for taking the trouble to post the whole article, Susan - you clearly have more time on your hands than I do! (which reminds me, I owe you some feedback on the business related stuff, don't I? Oops!)All the bestMarcus