DOR UNDERWATER EXCAVATION – 2008 SEASON
GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, TOPOGRAPHY AND SHIPWRECKS
The Historical Background
The eastern Mediterranean has been on major sea trade routes for millennia, with local and international commerce between Egypt, the Levant, the Aegean and Rome.
The weather conditions during the sailing season led to passages generally being made anti-clockwise around the eastern Mediterranean basin. The passage from Rome to Egypt, with a fair wind, took a few days, but the return journey led a ship from Alexandria along the coast of the Levant and south of Turkey to the Aegean, and could take months. St. Paul’s voyage to Rome gives a good illustration of the problems. Coastal passages from the Levant to Egypt with cargoes of oil, wine and wood, were probably made in short hops, during the mornings, when there was an off-shore breeze.
The prevailing south-west to north-west winds made the whole Levant coast a lee-shore, with very few natural, and fewer artificial, harbours where shelter could be found in bad weather. The happy result, for marine archaeologists, was that there were many shipwrecks. However, the warm sea led to rapid destruction of unprotected wood and other organic materials by organisms such as teredo worms and bacteria. Only when a wreck was quickly covered by sand was the organic material preserved. Lead, bronze and copper objects were usually preserved, although being disguised by a thick concretion layer. Iron objects usually corroded away, but sometimes left an impression of themselves inside the concretion layer. Stone was unaffected, and so was pottery, if it was buried and protected from erosion.
The Present Geography
The area is 30 km south of Haifa.
From North to South there are:
– A series of bays, with remains on shore dating from the Middle Bronze Age to the Byzantine era.
– Tel Dor
– Main Bay and Kibbutz Nahsholim
– Dor, a village with holiday accommodation and a campsite
– Dor Lagoon, opposite Dor Holiday Village
Tel Dor has been extensively excavated. There is evidence of 4000 years of occupation since the Bronze Age. Dor is mentioned in the Bible and Hellenistic sources. The city is apparently mentioned in an Egyptian inscription dated to the 13th century BCE, but its most famous ancient record is from the Golenischeff Papyrus, also known as the Wen-Amon account, dated to about 1100 BCE. To the north of Tel Dor are slipways and purple dye extraction installations. To the south are the remains of the Crusader fort of Merle, also known as Khirbet-el-Burj; and to the east are those of a Byzantine church.
The Lagoon of Tantura, or Dor, which is its ancient and now modern name, is south of Tel Dor. It is partially protected from the sea by a string of four small islands, which are separated from the shore by a narrow navigation channel. During winter storms several thousand tons of sand are swept in or out of the lagoon, resulting in changes in the sea bed. The sand layer over the base stratum of grey clay can be up to 2 m thick. When it shifts it covers or uncovers whatever is there. It can cover and preserve a newly-wrecked vessel, and this phenomenon has resulted in the accumulation of more than 3000 years of material, usually without coherent stratigraphy, but full of interest.
The lagoon served as an anchorage for coasters, and perhaps also as a refuge in case of moderately rough sea conditions, but now it is only used by local fishing boats. Local knowledge, professional navigation and seamanship was and is essential in order to use it safely. Vessels making for the gap at the southern end to shelter in their lee would turn north, closer to the wind and against the north-south current, and lose way, often resulting in grounding. Some wrecks have been found well inside the lagoon, where they would have sunk for other reasons.
The lagoon contains remains of more than 25 wrecks of wooden ships, well-preserved or fragmentary, or as piles of ballast stones. Other remains include pottery, stone anchors (more than 250 have been found in the Lagoon), Crusader swords, and modern junk (such as bits of plastic, bottles, nets, building blocks, roof tiles, used car batteries, etc., which is not yet archaeologically significant). Napoleon used Tantura and its anchorage as a base in 1799. His army stopped here on the night of 21/22 May, on its retreat from Acre (Akko), abandoning guns, muskets and ammunition in the sea (we are still searching for his heavy artillery),
All of these finds have their story and scientific value in learning about trade, the development of ship construction, and local history in general.
Surveys and excavations
The location of Dor, the protected anchorages north and south of the Tel, and evidence of marine activities, brought archaeologists to survey and excavate the area. Underwater archaeology has revealed evidence of maritime activities dating back to the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE. One of the questions is the location of the ancient harbour.
Organized underwater surveying and excavation have been going on since 1975, and the survey findings up to 1991 have been published. Since then there have been several excavations and investigations of shipwrecks in the lagoon, and additional wreck sites have been identified. Some of these have been described in various publications and international meetings, and full reports of others are in preparation. All excavations of these sites are under the auspices of the Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies and the Department of Maritime Civilizations of the University of Haifa, and are being excavated in cooperation with the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) and Kurt Raveh, who has been surveying and excavating here for more than 30 years. Most excavations are the subjects of Master’s or Doctoral theses.
You can find information on past activities in the RIMS Newsletter in the website: http://maritime2.haifa.ac.il/eng/nl.asp
Local museums with a maritime connection
The Mizgaga is the museum at Nahsholim, founded by Kurt Raveh. It has displays of archaeological finds from Dor, from both land and sea. These include anchors, weapons, amphoras, ceramic figurines, storage jars, oil lamps, jewellery, etc., from Canaanite times to Napoleon.
The National Maritime Museum in Haifa contains archaeological finds, including the unique Athlit Ram from a Hellenistic warship.
The Ma'agan Mikhael Ship is on display in the Hecht Museum in the University.
THE EXCAVATION
This season we intend to excavate two shipwreck sites in Dor Lagoon
Dor C is the wreck of a two-masted wooden vessel about 16 meters long. The site was first surveyed by Kurt Raveh, and excavated in 1999 and 2000 by researchers from RIMS and the NAS. The excavation explored about half of the Dor C wreck site, providing information on the ship's structure and diverse cargo, which included pottery and glass tableware, building materials, food supplies, and tools. The coming season will focus on the fore part of the wreck .
Tantura E is an Islamic period vessel preliminarily dated to the 8-9th century CE. It was discovered on during the 1995 excavation season, and was excavated in 2006 and 2007. The upper part of the hull was exposed, with some finds. Preliminary measurements allowed an estimate of the overall length at 10 metres. This year we will continue to survey the hull, and complete the documentation (including measuring, drawing and photography).
Excavating at Dor
The excavation base is located in the ex-diving centre on a sandy beach with palm trees, sunshine, warm breezes, warm sea (28ºC), and good to reasonable visibility. The wreck sites are at depths of 2–3 m. The furthest wreck is about 50 m from shore.
This looks like a dream dig. However, sea conditions have to be treated with respect. At times there are strong winds. These have three effects: they produce wave-action, which pushes things and divers around, they strengthen the north-south current which flows through the lagoon except in dead calm conditions, and they fill up trenches with sand. The whole excavation can disappear overnight, and has to be dug out again the next day, weather permitting. If these winds are very strong they can prevent excavation altogether. We hope that conditions will allow us to have continuous diving. However, we must be prepared for bad weather, which usually only lasts a couple of days. We are in constant contact with Poseidon, and he is usually helpful.
This season, as usual, should be enjoyable and instructive, and we hope it will add significantly to our knowledge of ancient ships, trade and seafaring.
PRACTICAL DETAILS
Organization
The excavation will be directed by Dr Yaacov (Yak) Kahanov of the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, with the cooperation of Chris Brandon of the NAS (Great Britain), and Kurt Raveh.
The individual sites will be supervised by graduate students from the Department of Maritime Civilizations and the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies of the University of Haifa under the direction of Dr Kahanov.
The diving teams will consist of students of the University, and volunteers from Israel and abroad.
The technical side of the diving will be run by Amir Yurman of the University of Haifa Diving Workshop. Equipment repairs can be made on the spot.
Dates of excavation
7th to 26th September 2008
Timetable
The work week is from Sunday to Friday (which is a half day).
We start at 07.45 and finish at 17.15, weather permitting. Usually we start the pump at about 08.45 and stop it at 16.00. The day starts with a briefing, and ends with a review of the day’s activities.
The daily work schedule would usually consist of two 60–75 minute dives, and two shifts of the following: safety boat, shore officer and tank-filling. Everyone joins in setting up the gear in the morning and breaking it down in the evening.
Length of stay
Naturally, the longer you stay the more you get out of the dig, and the more chance you have of being in on the big discovery. You should try to come for 2 weeks at least.
Cost
We do not charge a fee, but the costs of transport, accommodation and meals are borne by the participant.
Diving qualifications and conditions
A sports/recreational diving licence (minimum level: Two Star/Advanced Open Water) and diving insurance are required. A refresher dive can be arranged with our instructor if you have not dived for 6 months. Please bring your log book and insurance.
Access to the dive sites is by walking off the beach – no boats. We shall be diving in something like a rough swimming pool, maybe with a slight current, in 2-3 m of water. However, this is a dangerous depth, and the 'easy' diving still needs care.
Diving gear
We will supply tanks and weights, and can also provide some gear if required, but please bring your own if you can. We recommend 3/5 mm wetsuits, preferably long-johns and tops for protection from the sun and flesh-nibbling fish (not sharks, but irritating anyway).
Letters of Introduction
We will send each foreign participant a letter of introduction in Hebrew, to show to the Border Police on arrival. This will help you get through the security check, although we’re sure that none of you are suspicious characters.
We will also send a letter stating that any diving gear you may bring in is for the purpose of working in an authorised expedition, and is not subject to a customs deposit.
Accommodation
We arranging for volunteers to stay in the students' dorms at the University. The cost is about $12 per night (this may change slightly), not including breakfast. There is a minimarket and a small kitchen in the dorms, so you can prepare your own meals. We will transport you to and from the site.
For those who liked staying in Nahsholim - this is the holiday season, prices are almost double what they were last year, and the shekel has gone up about 25%. http://www.tourplanisrael.com/?CategoryID=243&ArticleID=436 gives the hotel prices - contact them to get prices for the rooms.
Transportation
Flights land at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv (Don't get a flight to Eilat).
There are two ways of getting to us, depending on when you arrive:
To the site, if you arrive during the day (landing before about 14.00, Sunday to Thursday) - by train from the airport terminal.
To the University dorm, if you arrive during the weekend or in the evening - by airport taxi service.
Train To come directly to the site you take the train from the Airport Terminal to Binyamina (fare NIS 32). Check the timetable - not all trains go to Binyamina. From there you take a taxi to the Dor Holiday Village office ('Kfar Nofesh' in Hebrew). The site is 100 m along the path which leads to the sea. Trains run day and night, at least every hour.
The Israel Railways timetable web site is: http://www.israrail.org.il/english/index.html.
Click on Schedules and Fares, put in date, departure station - Ben Gurion airport, and arrival station - Binyamina.
Note: If your flight lands on Friday/Saturday it's the Sabbath. Trains don't run on the Sabbath, from Friday: last train: 14.40, to Saturday: first train: 21.35, so you will have a very long wait.
Taxis There are three kinds of taxi:
1. To the University take the 10-seater taxi service from the Airport Terminal to Haifa (fare NIS 70). The taxi goes to any address in Haifa. You will have to wait till the taxi fills up. Ask to get off at the last bus stop at the University.