Some projects are so vast and expansive it’s impossible to imagine. Such is the case for the massively detailed 400-page book “The Kyrenia Ship” edited by Susan Wormer Katzev (Southport) and Helena Wylde Swiny, awarded the Best Archeological publication of the year by the Archeology Institute of America. The book’s cover shows a photograph of Susan Katzev in full scuba gear with drawing tablet diving on the 2,300-year-old remains of a sunken ship off the north coast of Cyprus. It took 53 years to produce the awarding-winning first volume!

The Kyrenia Ship, a Greek merchantman built around 315 BC, sank off the north coast of Cyprus, and was excavated between 1968 and 1972 under the direction of Michael L. Katzev of the University of Pennsylvania and Oberlin College. The importance of this project explores the exceptionally well preserved hull that provided new information about ancient shipbuilding, as well as cargo being transported. The hold was stacked with a variety of transport amphoras made on Rhodes and Samos, Kos, Knidos and Cyprus.

The book provides detailed history of the excavation with studies of the amphora cargo and the pottery used aboard ship. Some of the amphora stamps indicated that the ship sank between 294 and 291 BC. Other items recovered suggested that the ship was sailed by a crew of four. Seven bronze coins were recovered, five minted in the name of Alexander the Great and one well-known type of Ptolemy I produced on Cyprus.

Over the duration of this project, 50-plus specialists contributed. It is almost beyond comprehension that so much information was gathered, and this is just the first volume. Without the incredible dedication and efforts of Susan and Helena, the compiling of mountains of material would not have been possible.

Susan trained as a sculptor and worked as the artist for Roman and Byzantine underwater excavations. Her drawings, photography and meticulous renderings of the Kyrenia ship and its cargo are remarkable. Much of her work happened underwater as she hovered over sections of the vessel. To me, with no knowledge of the magnitude and scope of such an adventure, it was quite striking to chat with Susan like we were having a tuna fish sandwich at Robinson’s Wharf. Her artistic capabilities are astonishing. During her growing up years and moving through five different schools, she never allowed her interest in art to slip aside. It has been a lifetime focus, an almost genetic predisposition, not to be lived without. Ironically, one of her longest homes away from the place of her birth was literally less than an hour away from where I grew up in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately we never met, but I did add a bit of color to her artistic palette! Before anything else, Susan is an artist.

Helena Wilde Swiny contributed major efforts throughout the project but especially after Michael Katsev’s passing. She was classically trained with a postgraduate degree from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. As an architect/diver, she recorded the Kyrenia Ship from 1968 onwards. She has excavated in Italy, Iran, Afghanistan and Cyprus. She is a research associate at Harvard University.

This Final Excavation Report is vastly significant. The details of the ship, with its high degree of preservation, has allowed for the building of two full-scale sailing replicas. Interestingly, the sail for the Kyrenia replica was created by our own local sailmaker, Nat Wilson.

The Anna Marguerite McCann award for The Kyrenia Ship Final Excavation Report will take place in early January in Chicago. The book can be viewed at Southport and Boothbay Harbor libraries.