The remains of three shipwrecks and their cargoes from the Iron Age (1200-586 BCE) have been retrieved in the ancient harbor of Dor, on the Carmel Coast in northern Israel, according to an academic paper recently published by the prestigious journal Antiquity. The discovery marks the first time shipwrecks from those times have been uncovered in Israeli waters.
The Iron Age, also known as the First Temple Period, encompasses the centuries during which a significant portion of the events described in the Hebrew Bible are said to have occurred. At least for part of the time, in the 9th and 8th centuries BCE, Dor was likely under the rule of the Kingdom of Israel.
While almost nothing of the actual ships has survived, the remains of their cargoes, dating to the 11th, 9th, and 7th/6th centuries BCE, provide important insights into the trade routes of a crucial period in the region’s history. Among other things, the findings challenge the long-held belief among many scholars that little commerce took place under the biblical kingdoms.