Last year this time a 1000 year old ship was discovered in Kerala. This year we have another ship discovered, but this one about 3000 years old in Israel and belongs to the era of King David and Solomon.
The remains, which have been carbon-dated to the ninth century B.C., include a huge stone anchor believed to be the largest ever unearthed. The wreckage is lying under a few inches of sand off the Mediterranean coast in shallow waters, and has yet to be examined extensively.
If the remains are indeed 3,000 years old, it would be the first archaeological artifact ever found from the era of the first kings of Israel, with the possible exception of several huge stones at the base of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Named for Dorus, son of the Greek sea god Poseidon, the hillside city was a major port for both conquerors and traders and is mentioned in the first Book of Kings. At its peak, the port had 200,000 residents.
“In King Solomon’s time, this was the major port for the Israelite kingdom,” said ancient boat specialist Yaacov Kahanov of Haifa University. “The island here off the coast is still called Taphath, after Solomon’s daughter.” [Archaeologist hopes 3,000-year-old wood is from ancient ship]
According to oral tradition Jews established trading contacts with Kerala during the time of Solomon. There are other traditions which claim that Jews came to Kerala during the time of King Nebuchadnezar of Babylon in 500 BC, the time of Buddha. But according to Romila Thapar in her book Early India, the Jews came to India in the tenth and eleventh century AD.
