Black Assarca Shipwreck and Its Ancient Mediterranean Cargo
The Black Assarca shipwreck off Eritrea is an ancient maritime loss known for its cargo of carefully crafted pottery vessels. Discovered by tourists in 1995 at Black Assarca Island, the wreck was surveyed that same year and partially excavated in 1997 by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology working with Eritrea’s Ministry of Marine Resources. The finds suggest a vessel carrying goods across the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean trade routes in the early medieval period.
Discovery and Excavation of the Black Assarca Wreck
Tourists first spotted the wreck in 1995, leading to a formal survey that year. The 1997 excavation team, led by Ralph K. Pedersen, focused on recovering and studying the cargo rather than the vessel itself. No ship’s hull remains were found during the dig, so the exact construction and dimensions of the vessel remain unknown. The team recovered numerous artifacts that shed light on the trade goods moving through the region during the early 7th century.
The Aqaba Amphoras and Their Origins
The most significant finds were amphoras known as Aqaba Amphoras, named after their manufacturing point in what is now Jordan. These tall, conical vessels had a distinctive carrot shape and were decorated with fine parallel grooves called rilling, spaced roughly 1.2 centimeters apart. The rilling was applied as a continuous spiral from the base to the neck while the clay was still wet on the potter’s wheel, a technique peculiar to the eastern Mediterranean in the first millennium AD.
Nearly all the Aqaba amphoras recovered were broken, though one remained intact. Many had lost their handles or necks, while others showed fractures at the joint where the upper and lower body sections met. This joint was a naturally weak point in the vessel’s construction. Examination of the breaks revealed that the rilling at the joint was irregular and coarse compared to the even spacing elsewhere, suggesting this area received less careful finishing during manufacture.
Clues About the Cargo and Its Transport
The interior surfaces of many sherds and amphora bodies bore a blackish coating, similar to the resin sealant used on Mediterranean wine vessels to prevent liquid from seeping through the porous ceramic. One sherd, comprising the lower 15 centimeters of an amphora, was split vertically and contained a solid mass of resin in its hollow toe button. This resin may have been excess material that collected during the sealing process, or it could have been part of the cargo itself.
The toe buttons on the amphoras showed little wear beyond what would be expected from new vessels in transit. This suggests the amphoras were freshly made and not reused containers, traveling directly from the potter’s workshop to the dock and then aboard ship. The vessels were likely filled with liquid cargo, possibly wine or oil, which the resin coating would have protected during the voyage.
Dating and Distribution of the Wreck’s Ceramics
Based on finds from other archaeological sites, the Aqaba Amphoras are thought to date from around the 5th or 6th century, with the wreck itself possibly dating from the early 7th century. Similar amphoras have been found at Aksum, the capital of the Aksumite Kingdom, at the port city of Adulis on the Red Sea coast, at Berenike in Egypt, and at Aqaba in Jordan. This wide distribution shows that these vessels were part of established trade networks connecting the Red Sea, Mediterranean, and Indian Ocean regions.
Other Artifacts and Vessel Types
Beyond the Aqaba Amphoras, the excavation recovered a counterbalance weight for a steelyard, a piece of glass, and two additional amphora types. One was a round or globular vessel called a costrel, and the other was a wider version of the conical form. Both shared stylistic features with the Aqaba amphoras, indicating they came from the same cultural and geographic origin. Together, these finds paint a picture of a merchant vessel carrying standardized pottery containers, likely part of a regular trade route through the Red Sea and beyond.
Understanding Amphora Construction and Use
Amphoras were two-handled storage jars designed to hold and transport liquids or dry goods over long distances. Their narrow shape and pointed base made them stackable and easy to secure in a ship’s hold. Rilling refers to the fine grooves pressed into wet clay, both decorative and functional, as the grooves could help prevent the vessel from slipping during transport. Sherds are fragments of broken pottery, which archaeologists study to understand vessel types, manufacturing techniques, and trade patterns. Dunnage is loose material, such as straw or wood, used to cushion cargo and prevent breakage during shipment.
Further Reading on the Black Assarca Wreck
More detailed information on the Black Assarca shipwreck and its excavation can be found in Wikipedia’s maritime archaeology entries and in the archives of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. Academic publications on Red Sea trade and Aksumite commerce also provide broader context for understanding this vessel’s place in early medieval Mediterranean and Indian Ocean networks.
