Thursday, May 17 2012
| Jewel of Muscat |
| Wednesday, 16 June 2010 13:43 |
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The Belitung Wreck, an excavation venture off the island of Belitung in Indonesia, unearthed 60,000 pieces of rare Chinese porcelain which soon became known as the Tang Treasure. "Among the artefacts was the largest Tang gold cup ever discovered and some of the finest Yue ware -- a porcelain that the ancient Chinese likened to snow because of its delicacy. The exceptional quality of the goods has led some scholars to suggest that these were gifts from the Tang Emperor himself. The bulk of the cargo was more homely, including 40,000 Changsha bowls, named after the Changsha kilns in Hunan Province, where they were produced. Found packed inside tall, earthenware jars, some experts believe bean sprouts were placed between the bowls as a sort of organic bubble-wrap. These brightly painted tea bowls were the Tang equivalent of plastic food containers." (The treasure trove making waves, BBC News, 18.10.08) The pieces were bought over by Singapore in 2005. It was then that the idea of reconstructing the ship was conceived. Read here. “The objective of the project is to relive a chapter of maritime history by recreating the ninth-century ship and sailing it on the seaward portion of the Silk Road from the Middle East to Singapore, exactly the way it was done some 1,100 years ago.” (In the ‘sea’ steps of their forefathers, Star Online, 13.06.10)“The discovery of the shipwreck and its cargo is significant, therefore, as it indicates that a maritime trade route existed between Arabia and the Far East as early as the 9th century. The shipwreck itself also revealed much about Arab shipbuilding and navigation from the period. Well-preserved fragments of the ship showed that stitching was used by Arab craftsmen to bind the timber of the hull, while tests on the ship’s wood revealed its origin. The location of the wreck, furthermore, offers insight into the nature of routes taken by ninth century navigators to and from China.” (Jewel of Muscat) An interesting fact about the ship is that it has been reconstructed to mirror an original ninth-century sailing ship. “The 18-metre ship has been built without nails. The planks were sewn together with coconut fibre, and had to fit perfectly so as to ensure that the ship is watertight. The wood is protected by a layer of goat fat mixed with lime.” Read here for an indepth insight into the detailed plans and records relating to the project, including word documents, PDFs, photographs and videos. References
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THE JEWEL OF MUSCAT, a reconstructed ninth-century Arabian ship, will be berthed at the 
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