Black Assarca shipwreck

The wreck was surveyed in 1995 and partially excavated in 1997 by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, under the auspices of the Ministry of Marine Resources of Eritrea.

These long and conical "carrot shaped" amphoras, decorated with corrugations, or rilling, have been found previously at such sites as: Aksum, the capital of the Aksumite Kingdom; Metara; Adulis, the Aksumite port city located on the west side of Zula Bay; Berenike, the Ptolemaic harbor in Egypt; and Aqaba, Jordan.

Rilling was peculiar to the eastern Mediterranean in the first millennium AD and has been found on several ceramic forms in a number of sites (Pedersen 2008: 82).

The piece was filled with a solid mass of resin, probably excess that collected in the bottom when the interior of the vessel was being sealed, or perhaps being the transport item itself.

Both of these amphora types share stylistic characteristics with the Aqaba vessels demonstrating a common cultural venue and origin point.