Dr. Shelley Wachsmann, Texas A&M Meadows Professor of Biblical Archaeology, has discovered artifacts that provide evidence of a vibrant culture of maritime commerce that existed in the Late Bronze-Age Mediterranean world. During an inspection dive in 1980 along Israel’s Mediterranean coast, Wachsmann discovered the artifacts on a section of seabed swept clear of sand by a storm. The finds consisted primarily of small, broken, or damaged pieces of metal artifacts and ingots (i.e., scrap metal). Typological analyses date these artifacts to circa 1200 BC, around the traditional dates of the Trojan War and the Exodus.
The discovery and study of this humble group of artifacts demonstrates a dynamic international period of land and sea trade routes that stretched from Sardinia in the West to Iran in the East. Late Bronze-Age Metal Artifacts off Hahotrim, Israel published by Texas A&M University Press comprises the careful analysis of these materials by Wachsmann and ten collaborators.
Examination of the artifacts, along with the context in which they were found, provides valuable insight to our evolving understanding of the interconnectedness of the Mediterranean world at a pivotal moment in history.