Kyrenia Ship
F2. Maritime Culture, Heritage, Archaeology, Art and MuseumsDefinition
Fourth-century BCE Greek merchantman recovered off Cyprus.
The Kyrenia ship is a fourth-century BCE Greek merchantman wrecked off the north coast of Cyprus and excavated from 1967 to 1969 under Michael Katzev, one of the foundational projects of scientific underwater archaeology. About 14 meters long, she carried some 400 amphorae of wine and a cargo of millstones and almonds, and her hull was preserved well enough to reconstruct the shell-first, mortise-and-tenon construction of ancient Mediterranean shipbuilding. Sailing replicas, Kyrenia II and later vessels, tested her seakeeping.