The wreck of an old ship accidentally discovered at the bottom turned out to be a scientific sensation. One of the most significant underwater treasures in Southeast Asia lay in the wreckage of an Arab merchant ship (dhow), which sank off the coast of Sumatra 1200 years ago.
Formidable strait of Karimata
The most important sea trade route connecting the South China, Java and Andaman Seas with the Indian Ocean is the Strait of Malacca. This is the shortest route from the Far East to the Indian Ocean, so it has long been a very busy sea route. An alternative route passes through the narrow Karimata Strait between the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. In a narrow strait lie the Belitung and Bangka islands, separated from each other by the Gaspar Strait, which is a lateral offshoot of Karimata. It was these straits that became today a real Eldorado for treasure hunters - so many merchant ships found their destruction on their reefs. In the 19th century, an English captain who was shipwrecked in the Gaspar Strait described this place as the most dangerous section on the sea route between China and London. It is unlikely that his judgment was unfairafter all, over the centuries, thousands of sailors have convinced themselves of the correctness of the English sea "wolf" by their own bitter experience.
Many of the local fishermen are afraid to come close to the ships lying at the bottom - they believe that underwater spirits guard underwater treasures and protect the victims of shipwrecks. Those who do not believe in spirits, too, just in case, follow the customs of their ancestors - there is no time for jokes with the sea.
Searches at the Black Rocks
Since the early nineties of the last century, rumors have spread on the islands around the dangerous strait of incredible treasures lying at the bottom near Belitung. Trepang fishers have found shards and coins in this place many times. In 1998, two divers stumbled underwater near the so-called Black Rocks (Batu Hitam) on a strange hill of sand and coral. They fumbled in the sand with their hands and pulled out a bowl covered in seashells. Near the first bowl, there were two more similar vessels. As is often the case, sheer coincidence helped make a remarkable discovery.
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It turned out that under a thick layer of sand and bottom sediments lay an Arab sailing merchant ship, in whose holds a load of fabulous value lay. Scientists were certainly impressed by the ship's 1200 years old. However, the cargo turned out to be much more interesting - 63 thousand items of gold, silver and ceramics. All products are made during the Tang Dynasty, which ruled China from the 7th to the 10th century. Among the items from the Arab sailing ship was, for example, the largest gold goblet of that time.
The Tang era is considered a period of flourishing of Chinese culture, therefore, all persons and organizations involved in the lifting of the precious cargo of an Arab ship reacted to the matter with special zeal. It soon became clear that the finds have not only material, but also high historical value.
In addition to skillfully crafted luxury items, a large number of everyday goods were placed in the dhow's voluminous womb. The lion's share of the cargo consisted of 40 thousand ceramic bowls and painted tea cups. According to scientists, the fragile objects were shifted by a green mass, presumably by elastic seedlings of beans, so they were not only well preserved on the way, but also suffered relatively little during the shipwreck. Then the ship's skeleton was covered with sand and silt, which also protected the breaking dishes from damage.
The Arab sailing ship also carried one thousand miniature urns and eight hundred identical inkpots. This proves that China already in the 9th century produced consumer goods for export, and sold them in large quantities in the Arab East. Until now, it was believed that the production of export goods in China began much later.
Chinese luxury
The merchant ship had all the characteristic features of the Arab Dhow, which means that it was built in the Arab East. This is undoubtedly the first dhow found on the seabed so far from its native shores. The find is proof that Arab seafarers in ancient times dared to go on a long voyage and traded with the countries of Southeast Asia. European merchants launched their trade on such a scale hundreds of years later. Only at the end of the 15th century Vasco da Gama explored the sea route to India.
The heavily laden vessel embarked on a voyage, presumably from Canton (Guangzhou) and headed for Basra. Basra - currently the most important seaport in Iraq - in the 9th century was a significant center of trade and one of the richest cities in the world. Wealthy merchants in Basra were extremely greedy for luxury goods of Chinese work and paid huge sums of money for them.
Among the ceramic dishes from the Arabian Dhow, experts especially highly appreciated three plates painted with Iranian cobalt. They turned out to be several centuries older than those ceramics that later became world famous under the name "Chinese porcelain".
The ship, the wreckage of which was found near Batu Hitam, began to be called by this name. Why the ship sank in such a pernicious place is more or less clear, but how it ended up in a dangerous strait can only be assumed. Perhaps the sailors wanted to replenish their supplies of fresh water or provisions, but instead found themselves in a difficult situation. Fleeing from the pirates, the merchant ship moved along an unfamiliar strait and crashed on the rocks. Whether it was so, we will never know. In all likelihood, the dhow was heading towards Belitung Island and ran into a reef. This was the end of the earthly paths of brave sailors, and a completely different story began. In archeology it is always like this: there would be no happiness, but misfortune helped. If the dhow made it safely to its destination, gifts and goods would be distributed to different cities in the Middle East,not a single board would be left of the ship, and scientists would not have to rejoice in the underwater finds now.
Source: Secrets of the XX century, №41, October 2009, Alina LOSEVA