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Deborah Cvikel

Abstract

For thousands of years, the Mediterranean Sea has connected the various peoples residing along its shores, as is evidenced in the material culture: ancient coastal cities, ports and anchorages, shipwrecks and their cargoes. The archaeological remains uncovered on the seabed and on seashores are cultural assets of great value, attesting to the interrelationships between man and sea, playing an important part in the study of the history and archaeology of the Mediterranean basin. Between the end of the Byzantine period and the Early Islamic period, important changes were attested in the construction technology of ships sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in the maritime trade relations in the region. In the Byzantine period, the Ashqelon and Gaza wines were renowned for their high quality, and they were marketed throughout the Mediterranean basin to Western Europe. The archaeological excavations at Yavne, which revealed a large industrial area of wine production and storage, support the historical sources. The scanty evidence of shipwrecks dating to late antiquity led to the assumption that there was a decline in the scope of maritime trade, which was reduced to small vessels and short sailing routes along the coasts and between nearby islands. The remains of three ships—Dor 2006, Yassi Ada 1 and Ma‘agan Mikhael B—are first-hand testimony to maritime trade relations in large ships (over 20 m long), and sailing and shipping routes during this period. Based on this data, and information concerning the mobility of vessels in antiquity, it is possible to suggest that maritime relations in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea were not limited to sailing near the coasts, but also included direct sailing in the depths of the sea year-round. Based on the findings from Yavne, it is possible to suggest that ships loaded with wine amphoras from the vineyards of Yavne, Gaza or Ashqelon, sailed from the ports and anchorages on the Philistine coast to destinations in the Mediterranean basin year-round.

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