The contents of a sunken Chinese ship estimated to be more than 1000 years old will be coming to auction soon according to a spokesman from the Government of Indonesia. The contents of the ancient ship has been salvaged and curated over the last few years will soon be available for public sale. The bulk of the material salvaged was fine Chinese white or green ware, but the hull also contained Egyptian artifacts and Lebanese glass. The wooden ship sank in the Java Sea and provides importance evidence of the Silk Road maritime trade from over a millennium ago.
Although precious, sunken Chinese ships laden with goods from around the globe are common enough to warrant their own museum as witnessed by the opening of the Guangdong Maritime Silk Road Museum, in Yangjiang City, China. A link to the museum’s home page is here.