5.5 Ancient history » Mediterranean shipwrecks reveal BUT KO MCE Cete COTM miele A team of archaeologists has made a spectacular discovery in the eastern Mediterranean: a fleet of Greek, Roman, carly Islamic and Ottoman ships that were ost about two kilometres below the waves of the Levantine Basin between the 3rd century pcr.and the 19th century. Scan Kingsley, director of the Centre for East-West Maritime Exploration and archaeologist for the Enigma Shipwrecks Project (ESP), said: ‘This is truly ground- breaking, one the most incredible discoveries under the Mediterranean.’ ‘The ESP's ambitious underwater exploration used cutting-edge remote and robotic technology to research and record the finds, some of which could rewrite history, according to the experts involved. One of the wrecks is a 17th-century Ottoman merchant ship, described as ‘an absolute colossus’, which was so big that ‘two normal-sized ships could have fitted on its deck. Its vast cargo has hundreds of artefacts from 14 cultures and civilisations, including the earliest Chinese porcelain retrieved from a Mediterranean wrect painted jugs from Italy and peppercorns from India. ESP says the ship reveals a previously unknown maritime silk and spice route running from China to Persia, the Red Sea and into the eastern Mediterranean, ‘The ship, which is thought to have sunk around 1630, while sailing between Ezypt and Istanbul, isa time capsule that tells the story of the beginning of the globalised world, Kingsley said. “The goods and. belongings of the 14 cultures and civilisations yveted, spanning on one side of the ‘lobe China, India, the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea, and to the west North Africa, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium, are remarkably cosmopolitan for pre-modern shipping of any era. The Chinese porcelain includes 360 decorated cups, dishes and a bottle made in the kilns of Jingdezhen during the reign of Chongzhen, the last Ming emperor. The cups were designed for sipping tea, but the Ottomans adapted them for the craze then spreading, across the East coffee drinking. Kingsley said: ‘Europe may think it invented notions of civility, but the wrecked coffee cups and pots [tell a different story], The first London coffee house only opened its doors in 1652, a century after the Levant.” Steven Vallery, co-director of Enigma, said: "In the Levantine Basin, the Enigma wrecks lie beyond any country’s territory. All the remains were carefully recorded using suite of digital photography, [video and other technological devices) For science and underwater exploration, these finds are a giant leap forward.”