Yassi Ada
Encyclopedia
Yassi Ada is an island off the coast of Bodrum, Turkey. This area of the Mediterranean Sea
is prone to strong winds making a safe journey around the island difficult. The island could be called a ship graveyard due to the number of wrecked ships off its southeastern tip. Three wreck sites have been excavated under the direction of George Bass
of Texas A&M University
. The first wreck to be studied using archaeological techniques was a 4th-century Byzantine wreck. The second was a 7th-century Byzantine wreck, and the third was a 16th-century Ottoman
wreck. Bass received funding for a summer excavation at the site from the University Museum of University of Pennsylvania
and National Geographic.
and the Greek island of Pserimo. It measures 200 metres by 150 metres with an elevation of 11 metres. The dangerous reef
in the area that has caught many sailors by surprise is approximately 200 metres southwest of the island. Several vessels can be found in this area as they crashed into the hidden reef. Watercraft from a range of decades and styles can be found shipwrecked on the reef. Ship material is sometimes visible on top of the reef since it rises three metres from the surface of the water.
excavated a shipwreck
site near Yassi Ada island in 1967 and 1969. This expedition was funded by the Museum and National Geographic. A few students from the university joined the team along with an architect and a physician. The main site under excavation was the 4th-century vessel that is 19 metres in length. It lies between 36 and 42 metres below the sea and is 100 metres south of Yassi Ada. Its hull
was made of cypress
, and the keel
made of white oak. The 7th-century vessel lies near the reef with one end over the top of another wrecked vessel.
including the shapes of lamps
discovered at the site. The construction of the vessel also aided in dating the wreck site. The vessel was determined to be from the 4th century.
e that appeared in three different styles. The first style can be described as well-fired in texture and reddish-brown in color. These amphorae were estimated at 37-40 litres. The second style is similar in pattern and design to the first style; however, its body is more cylindrically shaped. The third style is the smallest of the three types of amphora found at this site. It was estimated to be around 13.7-14.4 litres. Its base is round in design with a button in the centre. The color is an orange-brown clay.
with the East
became important to acquire materials that were seen as necessities in the Byzantine Empire
. This Empire had three main trade route
s ranging from quickest to safest. The quickest route took sailors
through Sogdiana
to Persia then to the Empire. The second quickest route goes from the Indian Ocean
to the Red Sea
. The third and final route was the longest and safest. The Byzantine Empire often had conflicts with Persia, so this route bypasses Persian land to prevent sunken or attacked Byzantine ships. It went from Central Asia
to the Caspian Sea
to the Black Sea
which allowed no contact with Persia; however, some caravans loaded with silk would pass through Persia to reach the Empire. The trade with Persians was risky due to the “frequent wars between Byzantine and Persia[;] Roman
commerce suffered heavily both through the interpretation of communication and through the raising of the price of raw material”. In towns that were in direct war
with Persia, the price for raw material was high, and the finished product would cost even more than in other cities. In the 6th century, the Empire retrieved sandalwood
, aloes, and silk from Ceylon as trade with India
and Ethiopia
was the main business in this part of the world. During this time, they also traded for copper in Kalliana; raw material and labor came from the north.
Even though the Empire
saw difficult times in the 7th century, the trade industry continued. Food, commodities, and other items were sold at a fixed price to prevent rival to the ruler and government which is the first one part of the constitution. This part also allowed citizens to purchase basic necessities at a reasonable and affordable price. Another part, sought to protect producers by eliminates vertical monopoly
. The distribution of work was equally divided amongst all members which allowed for a lower competition rate. The third part to the constitution
, claims private produces only receive aid from family member some might also have slaves to help in the business. These businesses sold directly to the customers, and they had a smaller group of customers when compared to the other markets. The private producer would produce items for himself and his family.
During this time, Constantinople
especially continued their trade
with Africa
during these times while other Alexandrian
ships began to reach places as far west as Britain
. The Empire had certain laws pertaining to trade and sailing. One of these law which grew out of the custom of mariners regulation
, restricted ships to sailing in the winter months. Later, sailing was suspended for four months between November and March, because the Empire was worried about several dangers including as listed: pirates, land-robbers, and ships on fire. Byzantine
ships provided aid to each other and would sail; they would sail beside another for this sole purpose. They also began to bring on board armed men for further protection. Another law claims money lent for a vessel does not have to be returned if that vessel is lost or destroyed. The Byzantine Empire
had a vast trade route, and the government issued laws to protect their merchant and business citizens by providing route options for safety and protection methods.
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
is prone to strong winds making a safe journey around the island difficult. The island could be called a ship graveyard due to the number of wrecked ships off its southeastern tip. Three wreck sites have been excavated under the direction of George Bass
George Bass (archaeologist)
George Fletcher Bass is recognized as one of the early practitioners of underwater archaeology, along with Peter Throckmorton, Honor Frost, and others....
of Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
. The first wreck to be studied using archaeological techniques was a 4th-century Byzantine wreck. The second was a 7th-century Byzantine wreck, and the third was a 16th-century Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
wreck. Bass received funding for a summer excavation at the site from the University Museum of University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and National Geographic.
Island Description
Yassi Ada is an island which is situated between TurgutreisTurgutreis
Turgutreis is a town in Turkey about a 60 minute drive from Bodrum International Airport. It is the second largest town on the Bodrum peninsula. The district, which comes under the City of Muğla and Bodrum Town, is in an area of 55,000 Hectare...
and the Greek island of Pserimo. It measures 200 metres by 150 metres with an elevation of 11 metres. The dangerous reef
Reef
In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
in the area that has caught many sailors by surprise is approximately 200 metres southwest of the island. Several vessels can be found in this area as they crashed into the hidden reef. Watercraft from a range of decades and styles can be found shipwrecked on the reef. Ship material is sometimes visible on top of the reef since it rises three metres from the surface of the water.
Field Work
The University Museum of University of Pennsylvania under director George BassGeorge Bass (archaeologist)
George Fletcher Bass is recognized as one of the early practitioners of underwater archaeology, along with Peter Throckmorton, Honor Frost, and others....
excavated a shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
site near Yassi Ada island in 1967 and 1969. This expedition was funded by the Museum and National Geographic. A few students from the university joined the team along with an architect and a physician. The main site under excavation was the 4th-century vessel that is 19 metres in length. It lies between 36 and 42 metres below the sea and is 100 metres south of Yassi Ada. Its hull
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
was made of cypress
Cypress
Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs...
, and the keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
made of white oak. The 7th-century vessel lies near the reef with one end over the top of another wrecked vessel.
Dating Method
Artifacts were used to date the shipwreckShipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
including the shapes of lamps
LAMPS
LAMPS or Lamps may refer to:* Nickname for Frank Lampard, a Chelsea FC midfielder* Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System...
discovered at the site. The construction of the vessel also aided in dating the wreck site. The vessel was determined to be from the 4th century.
Archaeological Finds
Finds for the site include 1,100 amphoraAmphora
An amphora is a type of vase-shaped, usually ceramic container with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body...
e that appeared in three different styles. The first style can be described as well-fired in texture and reddish-brown in color. These amphorae were estimated at 37-40 litres. The second style is similar in pattern and design to the first style; however, its body is more cylindrically shaped. The third style is the smallest of the three types of amphora found at this site. It was estimated to be around 13.7-14.4 litres. Its base is round in design with a button in the centre. The color is an orange-brown clay.
Byzantine trade history
TradeTrade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
with the East
Eastern world
__FORCETOC__The term Eastern world refers very broadly to the various cultures or social structures and philosophical systems of Eastern Asia or geographically the Eastern Culture...
became important to acquire materials that were seen as necessities in the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. This Empire had three main trade route
Trade route
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a single trade route contains long distance arteries which may further be connected to several smaller networks of commercial...
s ranging from quickest to safest. The quickest route took sailors
Sailors
Sailors is the plural form of Sailor, or mariner.Sailors may also refer to:*Sailors , a 1964 Swedish film*Ken Sailors , American basketball playerSports teams*Erie Sailors, baseball teams in Pennsylvania, USA...
through Sogdiana
Sogdiana
Sogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Empire, eighteenth in the list on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great . Sogdiana is "listed" as the second of the "good lands and countries" that Ahura Mazda created...
to Persia then to the Empire. The second quickest route goes from the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
to the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. The third and final route was the longest and safest. The Byzantine Empire often had conflicts with Persia, so this route bypasses Persian land to prevent sunken or attacked Byzantine ships. It went from Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
to the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
which allowed no contact with Persia; however, some caravans loaded with silk would pass through Persia to reach the Empire. The trade with Persians was risky due to the “frequent wars between Byzantine and Persia[;] Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
commerce suffered heavily both through the interpretation of communication and through the raising of the price of raw material”. In towns that were in direct war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
with Persia, the price for raw material was high, and the finished product would cost even more than in other cities. In the 6th century, the Empire retrieved sandalwood
Sandalwood
Sandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood in-situ, essential oils are also extracted...
, aloes, and silk from Ceylon as trade with India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
was the main business in this part of the world. During this time, they also traded for copper in Kalliana; raw material and labor came from the north.
Even though the Empire
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
saw difficult times in the 7th century, the trade industry continued. Food, commodities, and other items were sold at a fixed price to prevent rival to the ruler and government which is the first one part of the constitution. This part also allowed citizens to purchase basic necessities at a reasonable and affordable price. Another part, sought to protect producers by eliminates vertical monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
. The distribution of work was equally divided amongst all members which allowed for a lower competition rate. The third part to the constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
, claims private produces only receive aid from family member some might also have slaves to help in the business. These businesses sold directly to the customers, and they had a smaller group of customers when compared to the other markets. The private producer would produce items for himself and his family.
During this time, Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
especially continued their trade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
with Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
during these times while other Alexandrian
Alexandrian
Alexandrian is either:* an adjective referring to a place called Alexandria, as in Alexandrian text-type* a person from and/or inhabiting a city called Alexandria...
ships began to reach places as far west as Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The Empire had certain laws pertaining to trade and sailing. One of these law which grew out of the custom of mariners regulation
Regulation
Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...
, restricted ships to sailing in the winter months. Later, sailing was suspended for four months between November and March, because the Empire was worried about several dangers including as listed: pirates, land-robbers, and ships on fire. Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
ships provided aid to each other and would sail; they would sail beside another for this sole purpose. They also began to bring on board armed men for further protection. Another law claims money lent for a vessel does not have to be returned if that vessel is lost or destroyed. The Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
had a vast trade route, and the government issued laws to protect their merchant and business citizens by providing route options for safety and protection methods.
External links
- Island image
- Archaeologist tagging artifacts on Byzantine wreck site
- Artifacts from 4th-century wreck
- Excavation of 7th-century wreck
- 7th-century wreck site
- Amphorae from wreck at Yassi Ada
- van Doorninck examining artifacts on land after recovery
- Reconstruction of Byzantine ship
- Further readings on Maritime Archaeology in Turkish waters
- Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology official website
