Belitung shipwreck

02°45′00″S 107°36′36″E / 2.75000°S 107.61000°E / -2.75000; 107.61000

Map of Belitung Island showing the wreck site marked just off the north-west coast
Map of Belitung Island showing the Belitung shipwreck marked with a red cross (2°45′00"S, 107°35′36"E)

The Belitung shipwreck[1][2] (also called the Tang shipwreck or Batu Hitam shipwreck) is the wreck of an Arabian dhow which sank around 830 AD.[3] The ship completed the outward journey from Arabia to China, but sank on the return journey from China, approximately 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) off the coast of Belitung Island, Indonesia. It is unclear why the ship was south of the typical route when it sank.[4] Belitung is to the south-east of the Singapore Strait by 610 kilometres (380 mi), and this secondary route is more normal for ships travelling between China and the Java Sea, which is south of Belitung Island.[5]

The wreck has given archaeologists two major discoveries: the biggest single collection of Tang dynasty artefacts found in one location outside of China, the so-called "Tang Treasure"; and the Arabian dhow, which gives a new insight into the trade routes between China and the Middle East during that period. The treasure has been kept as one collection and, during the excavation, the efforts to preserve the integrity of the site and its cargo have resulted in detailed archaeological evidence. This evidence has given new insight into the construction methods used in shipbuilding, and the items and style of artefacts has revealed previously unknown facts about the trade between the two areas.

At the present, the Tang dynasty treasures recovered from the Belitung shipwreck are located in a permanent exhibition in the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore under the name "Tang Shipwreck".[6]

  1. ^ "THE BELITUNG (TANG) SHIPWRECK (9th C.)". Marine Explorations. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  2. ^ Worrall, Simon (June 2009). "Tang Shipwreck". National Geographic. Archived from the original on September 1, 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Belitung Wreck Details & Photos". Marine Exploration. Archived from the original on 1 October 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  4. ^ "The Belitung Shipwreck". South East Asian Archaeology. 28 June 2007. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2011. The Belitung shipwreck is located a little too far south.
  5. ^ "The treasure trove making waves". BBC News. 18 October 2008. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  6. ^ "Galleries". Retrieved 2024-06-10.