Researchers from the University of Haifa say that the skeletons of rats found on the wreck of a cargo ship that sank off the coast of Israel provide valuable new historical insights.
The Ma'gan Mikhael B, a ship that once sailed the Mediterranean, has skeletons of dead rats on it.
The remains are the oldest and only direct evidence of a ship rat outbreak on an ancient shipwreck in the Mediterranean, according to Sierra Harding, a zooarchaeologist.
Black rats were a species that traveled to the Middle East from South Asia and India more than 2,000 years ago.
Preliminary findings show that the rats could have originated from Tunisia or Corsica in the central Mediterranean.
If it is confirmed that some of these rats were from as far away as the central Mediterranean islands, it means that there was a lot more communication, shipping, exchange, and trade happening during this period.
An impressive array of preserved artifacts discovered on the sunken ship has helped fill in the picture of life aboard the ancient trading vessel.
A 2020 preliminary report from the University of Haifa team found the largest maritime cargo of Byzantine and Early Islamic ceramics discovered along the Israeli coast.
The study provides clues to the diversity of the crew, with Christian crosses, Muslim blessings, and Greek and Arabic letters carved into the walls.
The crew made it to the shore when the ship ran aground a short distance from the coast.
The ship was covered with seven feet of sand when it sank off the coast of Israel.
The study is being led by an international team of researchers.
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