Archaeologists from the University of Warsaw have uncovered the remains of several ancient shipwrecks near the historic port city of Ptolemais in northeastern Libya, shedding new light on maritime activity in the Mediterranean thousands of years ago. The discoveries were made during recent underwater surveys conducted near the submerged remains of the ancient harbour.
The wreck site stretches across more than 100 metres, suggesting that multiple vessels were lost in the area over time rather than a single accident. According to Dr. Piotr Jaworski, head of the research project at Ptolemais, the length of the debris field indicates that maritime disasters likely occurred repeatedly along this rocky stretch of coastline as ships approached the harbour from the east.
“Over the centuries, the level of the Mediterranean Sea has risen slightly, and earthquakes have also caused the coast to erode. As a result, part of the ancient port infrastructure is now underwater. We found ancient columns, traces of submerged roads, many dropped anchors, and probes used to explore the seabed in antiquity. We will be examining all of this in the coming seasons,” said Professor Bartosz Kontny from the Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, who heads the underwater research at Ptolemais.
Ptolemais was one of the largest Greek cities in the region of Cyrenaica, founded by the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty in the late fourth or early third century BC. The city flourished for centuries before declining after the Arab conquest in the seventh century AD.
Among the artefacts recovered from the wreck site was a rare bronze component of Roman balance scales shaped like a woman’s head and filled with lead. Archaeologists also found numerous amphorae and cargo fragments, including one container that may still contain crystallised wine.
Excavations on the nearby acropolis have also revealed a previously unknown road leading to the hilltop city, along with a Roman milestone bearing a Greek inscription from the Severan dynasty, highlighting the city’s prosperity during the third century AD.
Header Image Credit : Artur Brzóska
Sources : PAP
