BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Roman Ships Discovered off Turkish Coast

Bible and archaeology news

Two Roman ships were recently discovered by Italian archaeologists working near the Cilician Roman city Elaiussa Sebaste in southeastern Turkey. Elaiussa Sebaste’s location on a narrow isthmus made it ideal for trade between Anatolia, Egypt and Syria after the Roman Emperor Vespasian forced pirates out of Cilicia in the first century C.E. The Imperial Roman and Late Roman trade ships were discovered with cargoes of amphora and marble.

Two unexcavated synagogues, including what may be the world’s earliest known synagogue, were recently discovered in Cicilia. Read “The Lost Sites of Ancient Cilicia” in Bible History Daily, or read Mark Fairchild’s full report BAS Library: “Turkey’s Unexcavated Synagogues,” as it appeared in Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 2012.