00:00A ship filled with gold and other treasures worth over $13 million was found in the middle
00:06of the Namibian desert after almost 500 years.
00:11The worker who found it was actually looking for diamonds, but ended up with something
00:15way more valuable for history.
00:18There were some blocks of copper, some wood, pipes, and elephant tusks.
00:22The miners called for an archaeologist, who soon realized it wasn't a disturbed beach
00:27like they thought, but a shipwreck.
00:30All evidence showed that it was a Portuguese trading vessel, Bom Jesus, that went missing
00:35in the 16th century.
00:37Experts believe it was a special kind of ship that was bigger, stronger, and better than
00:42older ships from Portugal and Spain.
00:45These ships were built to take Portuguese explorers on long trips to distant places
00:50like India, China, and Japan, and come back with tons of cargo.
00:55The Bom Jesus was likely carrying treasures from Lisbon, Portugal, to western India.
01:01But it looks like on its way around the southern tip of Africa, near Namibia, a big storm pushed
01:07the ship too close to the shore.
01:09The ship hit a rock, tipped over, and broke apart, sinking into the ocean.
01:15Archaeologists found treasure from the captain's chest under the water, which probably fell
01:19out when the ship's wooden hull broke.
01:21They also found pieces of the ship scattered along the shore, likely from the violent storm
01:26and later by construction in the area.
01:29The storm must have been very fierce, but they didn't find many bones, which means
01:34most of the crew may have survived or were lost at sea.
01:40The ship was split into three sections and incredibly well-preserved, thanks to the thick
01:44layers of sand that covered it and prevented rot.
01:49Scientists who studied the wreck discovered over 40 tons of cargo.
01:53There were cannons, swords, blocks of metal like lead and tin, fabrics, and tools that
01:59sailors used to navigate the stars while traveling across the ocean.
02:03The most exciting discovery was 1,845 copper ingots, weighing as much as 16 to 17 tons
02:11altogether.
02:13Those copper ingots, or pieces of pure metal, are still in great condition because the hull
02:18of the ship and layers of sand protected them from ocean water.
02:22The scientists even managed to read the trademarks on them on sight, and learned they were made
02:28by a super-wealthy German trading company.
02:32There were also more than 2,000 shiny gold and silver coins from different countries,
02:38and 105 enormous elephant tusks, weighing about 2 tons.
02:43The tusks were likely supposed to become luxury items, like jewelry or carvings, at
02:48the destination.
02:50Archaeologists took some DNA samples from the tusks and found that they came from West
02:55African forests and savannah elephants.
02:59Researchers were lucky that the ship was found in a restricted diamond mining area.
03:04No scavengers were able to get their hands on the treasures.
03:07The Bom Jesus remains the oldest and most valuable shipwreck that was ever discovered
03:12off the western coast of Sub-Saharan Africa.
03:16Another shipwreck recently found by accident was buried under a 10-foot tall sand dune
03:21near the Caspian Sea.
03:24Some people call it the world's largest lake, and it has water levels that rise and
03:28fall over time because of the changes in weather patterns.
03:33These changes can move sand and uncover things like this shipwreck and other treasures along
03:38the coast.
03:39As the dune slowly disappeared, the ship started to show.
03:44Before digging it out, scientists worried that waves from the sea might damage the wreck.
03:49To protect it, they built a wall using thousands of sandbags to keep the waves away.
03:54When the ship was uncovered, they discovered it was a three-masted, 92-foot long merchant
04:00ship with a strong double hull.
04:03Wood samples showed the ship was built in the 18th to 19th century using trees like
04:08Scots pine, spruce, and larch from the Volga River area or the Caucasus.
04:13They even found buckwheat and plants from the same region, which were probably traded
04:18or used to feed the sailors.
04:20It proves that the ship was part of a group of merchant ships that once sailed the Caspian
04:25Sea.
04:27An amateur fisherman who was 20 feet under the sea off the coast of Turkey noticed some
04:32huge metal remains.
04:35He had an underwater camera, so he made footage of the discovery and took it to scientists.
04:40They immediately started an investigation and learned that it must be a shipwreck from
04:45the first decades of the 20th century.
04:48It could be one of the Ottoman Empire ships that had an important mission to deliver supplies
04:53but disappeared without a trace.
04:56Scientists got permission to study this Black Sea wreck in detail to learn more about its
05:01mysteries.
05:02They're hoping to find its shipyard documents to find some answers as the ship itself is
05:07in terrible condition and is tricky to work with.
05:11Robot submersibles that belonged to an oil and gas company noticed hundreds of intact
05:16ancient storage jars sitting on the seabed in the eastern Mediterranean.
05:21Experts think those jars are 3,300 years old.
05:26This makes the find the oldest shipwreck from the deep sea.
05:30The jugs were probably used to store oil or other agricultural products like fruit.
05:36This proves that the people who made them organized maritime trade and had incredible
05:40navigational skills.
05:42It looks like the ancient mariners managed to traverse the Mediterranean Sea without
05:47a line of sight to any coast.
05:50All they could see was the horizon, so they must have used the sun and other stars to
05:54find their way.
05:58Off the coast of Sicily, under 20 feet of sand and rock, archaeologists found a shipwreck
06:03so old that they aren't even sure what materials were used to build it.
06:08They think the ship is from the 5th or 6th century BCE, which means it's over 2,500 years
06:15old.
06:16This ancient ship wasn't alone.
06:19Researchers also found two iron anchors shaped like an upside-down T from around the 7th
06:26century of the Common Era and four stone anchors from prehistoric times nearby.
06:32One of the stone anchors was broken and may have had wooden pieces attached to help it
06:37hold on to the seafloor.
06:39They figured out that the ship itself was built using the on-shell technique.
06:44The wooden planks of the ship were connected so tightly that they could support the ship
06:49on their own, with extra beams added just to make it stronger.
06:53Sadly, the ship's wooden hull is very fragile now because tiny sea creatures that eat wood
06:58have damaged it over the years.
07:01Scientists are being extra careful as they study it to make sure it doesn't fall apart.
07:06This discovery is such a big deal because it was built during a time when Sicily was
07:11super important for trade.
07:13Back then, the Greeks and Punics were trying to take control of the seas long before Rome
07:19became the ruler of the Mediterranean.
07:21By studying this ship, scientists hope to learn more about how people travelled and
07:26traded in those ancient times.
07:31One more shipwreck, this time off the coast of Kenya, could be from Vasco da Gama's final
07:36voyage.
07:37This Portuguese explorer was the first European to reach India by sea around the Cape of Good
07:43Hope.
07:45Local fishermen discovered the shipwreck in question in 2013 when an underwater archaeologist
07:50came to check it out.
07:52He found some treasures at the spot, elephant tusks and valuable copper ingots.
07:57If this find really has to do with Vasco da Gama, then it must be from the 16th century.
08:04It was the year of his third and final voyage to India.
08:08Da Gama led a huge fleet of 20 ships, one of which was the Sao Jorge.
08:14Most of the ship is hidden under layers of coral and a whole team of scientists are carefully
08:18digging trenches to find parts of the ship's wooden frame and hull.
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