List of shipwrecks before Anno Domini

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

The list of shipwrecks before Anno Domini includes some ships sunk, wrecked or otherwise lost before the year AD 1 of the Gregorian calendar.

Before 20th century BC

Year	Origin	Name	Type	Location	Notes
2700–2200 BC	Argolid	Dokos shipwreck	Small merchant vessel	Coast of southern Greece near the island of Dokos	[1]
3455 BCE — 3400 BCE	Swifterbant	Bergschenhoek Shipwreck	Logboat	Bergschenhoek, Netherlands

20th–10th century BC

Year	Origin	Name	Type	Location	Notes
c. 1300 BC	Canaanite	Canaanite shipwreck	merchant vessel	90 kilometres (56 mi) off Israel in the Mediterranean Sea	Wreck is located at a depth of 1,800 metres (5,900 ft). [2]
1300 BC	Canaan	Uluburun shipwreck	Deep-sea merchant vessel	Southeast of Kaş, Turkey	[ citation needed ]
1200 BC	Canaan	Cape Gelidonya shipwreck	Coastal merchant vessel	Cape Gelidonya	[ citation needed ]
1200–1000 BC	Istrian	Zambratija shipwreck	Sewn boat	Bay of Zambratija near Umag	[ citation needed ]

7th century BC

Year	Origin	Name	Type	Location	Notes
unknown	Phoenician	Gozo Phoenician shipwreck	deep-sea merchant vessel	Off Malta	[3]
600 BC	Phoenician	Bajo de la Campana Phoenician shipwreck	Trade ship	Off Murcia, Spain	[ citation needed ]
650–600 BC	Phoenician	Phoenician shipwrecks of Mazarrón	Coastal merchant vessels	Off Mazarrón, Spain	[ citation needed ]

6th century BC

Year	Origin	Name	Type	Location	Notes
~600 BC	Etruria	Giglio Island shipwreck	Coastal merchant vessel	Giglio Island, Italy	[4]

5th century BC

Year	Origin	Name	Type	Location	Notes
~400 BC	Phoenician	Ma'agan Mikha'el shipwreck	Coastal merchant vessel	Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael, Israel	[5]
450–425 BC		Tektas wreck		Turkey	[5]

4th century BC

Year	Origin	Name	Type	Location	Notes
unknown		unknown		Mediterranean on the Eratosthenes Seamount	Found by the Ocean Exploration Trust's vessel EV Nautilus. [6]
unknown		unknown		Porticello	[5]
unknown	Greek	unknown	Merchant ship	Black Sea, off the coast of Bulgaria	Rudder, rowing benches, and hold still intact. [7]

3rd century BC

Year	Origin	Name	Type	Location	Notes
c. 294 BC	Greek	Kyrenia	Merchant ship	Kyrenia, Cyprus	[ citation needed ]
241 BC	Punic	Marsala Punic ships		Sicily	[5]

2nd century BC

Year	Origin	Name	Type	Location	Notes
Late 2nd century BC		unknown	Warship	Thonis	Sunk by debris falling from a temple that collapsed during an earthquake. [8]

1st century BC

Year	Origin	Name	Type	Location	Notes
80 BC		Mahdia shipwreck			[ citation needed ]
86 BC		Antikythera wreck			[ citation needed ]

References

1. Lienhard, John H. "A Minoan Wreck". University of Houston. The Engines of Our Ingenuity. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
2. "Cargo from 'most ancient' shipwreck found off Israel". BBC News. 20 June 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
3. "Exploring an Archaic Shipwreck off Xlendi Bay, Gozo". Phoenician Shipwreck Project. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
4. Lienhard, John H. "An Etruscan Wreck". The Engines of Our Ingenuity. University of Houston. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
5. Åkesson, Per. "Wrecks & shipfinds of the Mediterranean". www.abc.se. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
6. Learn, Joseph Rapp (9 December 2017). "Wayfarers of the ancient world". New Scientist. Vol. 236, no. 3155. p. 12.
7. Lettens, Jan. "Oldest intact shipwreck found in the Black Sea". Wrecksite. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
8. "Underwater archaeologists discover ancient shipwreck in sunken city". Heritage Daily. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.