Ships are unique. A ship is a microcosm of political, economic, cultural and technological activity. Why do we deem the discovery of a ship so significant? It serves as a bridge between different cultures and peoples carrying goods, ideas and technologies.

As the sea is a bridge between cultures, so is the ship the means of carrying and diffusing that culture. Comprehending the technological achievements embodied in the building of a ship, its navigation, its method of propulsion, its loading capacity and its constant confrontation with the elements is a major task.

Until very recently, the structure of ancient ships was a subject relying on literary descriptions and artistic iconographic representations. However, with the progress of nautical archaeology research, we can now handle a ship's hull itself, enabling us to begin to understand the magnitude of the achievements of the ancients.

Divers excavating the anchor of the ship

The excavation process took place over three seasons, from 1988 to 1989. It was carried out by a team of nautical archaeologists and technical staff from the Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies at the University of Haifa, who were joined by specialists and advisors from Israel and abroad. Jay Rosloff from the U.S.A served as the field director.

A substantial portion of the wooden hull structure survived. Among the artifacts found aboard were 70 items of ceramic ware, ropes, a lead ingot, a set of wooden carpenter's tools, 12 tons of rocks, mainly blue schist and Gabro, and - lying in position in the sandy bottom, although it had not actually been used - a perfectly intact, one-armed wooden anchor, unique in its style, its ropes still attached.

Reassembling the ancient shipWhere planks had become distorted, they have been reshaped. Each piece of planking, after being submerged for a night in PEG at 60°C to render it flexible, was eased into the original shape and held in place using battens and clamps. This jigsaw puzzle was made easier by the original labeling (stainless steel needles and Dymo tape), which survived the years of the conservation process and all the handling to which the parts were subjected.

The remaining pieces were put in place when an overhead gantry was installed to allow the assembly team to work inside the hull while being suspended from above.

Replication of the shipIn order to advance the study of shipping in antiquity and to extend our knowledge of the Ma'agan Mikhael Ship, the plan is to build a replica of this ship. It will be built by an identical method of "shell-first construction," with similar materials to those utilized by the ancient shipwright. The intention is to sail this replica across the Mediterranean Sea, making use of ancient navigation means and methods.

Similar replication ventures of historical ships have been undertaken in other seafaring countries: our Greek colleagues constructed a full-scale replica of the 4th century BCE merchantship discovered and excavated near Kyrenia, Cyprus. The Danes built replicas of Viking ships at the Maritime Archaeological Museum and Research Center in Roskilde, Denmark.