2,100-year-old Roman shipwreck with 122 tableware types found in Turkey

Off the Turkish coast near Adrasan, marine archaeologists recently discovered the remains of an ancient cargo ship bound for Rome and loaded with thousands of pieces of tableware in 122 different varieties, most famous and in demand at the time. The vessel had been carrying ceramic plates, bowls and serving dishes when it sank some 2,100 years ago, as per a report by All Things Interesting.Researchers believe the cargo originated from the region around the ancient port city of Rhosus, in modern-day Arsuz, Turkey, which served as a hub for elite tableware production at the time. Rhosus tableware was so well known and in demand that the Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero famously mentioned ordering it in a letter from 50 B.C.E.A shocking shipwreckAccording to an announcement about the discovery made by Turkey's Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, excavations on the shipwreck began in 2025. Since then, marine archaeologists have recovered thousands of ceramic pieces, which have been transferred either to the Antalya Museum or to conservation labs.The wreck, sitting at depths between 140 and 18 feet, revealed 122 distinct types of tableware of different forms and siz...