About - The Department of Maritime Civilizations

The Department of Maritime Civilizations

EXPLORING THE REAL-WORLD LABORATORY UNDER THE SEA

The Department of Maritime Civilizations is the only department of its kind in Israel. Founded 50 years ago, it conducts underwater exploration along the Israeli coast, which has one of the densest concentrations of shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.

The Department explores the interrelations between humans and the Mediterranean Sea through the interlocking disciplines of underwater and coastal archaeology, geology and geoarchaeology, history and ecology. The research focuses on 11,000 years of human maritime adaptation in Israel, addressing questions of trade, migration, ship and harbor technology, historic sea level changes and coastal environments. Its interdisciplinary studies build on the unparalleled wealth of coastal and underwater sites in Israel, from sunken Neolithic villages to Bronze and Iron Age anchorages and ship cargoes, Roman and Byzantine ports and shipwrecks, and medieval maritime activity.

The Department is recognized as one of the leading underwater archaeology institutions in the world, and works in close cooperation with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego. Faculty members are currently working on underwater exploration of submerged Neolithic villages, the Bronze Age site of Kabri on the coast north of Haifa, underwater Bronze and Iron Age cargoes and an Early Islamic shipwreck south of Haifa. The Department offers MA and PhD degrees in Hebrew and English; both programs include rigorous field training in underwater and coastal archaeology, as well as laboratory research in related fields.