07 · Shipwreck · Supply Chains

Ivory with names

Elephant tusks from Bajo de la Campana

Before becoming a comb or luxury plaque, ivory crossed the sea as marked raw material.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Specific historical recreation of Elephant tusks from Bajo de la Campana, Bajo de la Campana, Murcia coast, Spain, End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

**DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

A ship wrecked near La Manga was transporting dozens of elephant tusks together with tin, copper, lead, ceramics, perfumes and other goods. Ten pieces bore inscriptions: brief signals inserted into a logistics network linking very distant origins.

The cargo mixes raw materials and finished products. This combination dismantles a simple «East to West» route: there was selection, redistribution, repair and negotiation in multiple ports, with local communities actively participating.

The ten inscribed tusks introduce writing within a logistics chain, but their brief marks do not tell a narrative. They may have distinguished batches, individuals or successive controls before the sea froze the cargo.

Ivory, tin, copper, lead, ceramics and perfumes did not need to share an origin. The ship brought together materials at different stages of transformation, making visible a network of stops, redistribution and future workshops.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: ARQVA documents at least 53 elephant tusks or fragments and ten inscriptions in the Phoenician wreck of Bajo de la Campana. Interpretation and caution: the marks may relate to ownership, names or cargo control, but their exact function and all readings are not settled. Documented expansion: ARQVA documents at least fifty-three elephant tusks or fragments, ten with inscriptions, associated with a diverse cargo from the end of the 7th or beginning of the 6th century BCE. Expanded interpretation and caution: The readings of the marks and the biological origin of all the tusks are not settled; they must not become a translated cargo manifesto or a secure linear route.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE
Location: Bajo de la Campana, Murcia coast, Spain
Material: Ivory · tin · copper · lead · ceramic
Context: Trade, contact and long-distance raw materials
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Evidence: Archaeological context, materiality and chronology.
Caution: Do not convert stylistic diffusion or contact into political domination.
Documentary coverage: 2 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

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End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE

Ivory with names

Phoenicians

The full 7th–6th centuries BCE provide broad limits for chronological ordering; the record specifies the late 7th century and the first half of the 6th.

Current record

Ivory11 dated objects

10 / 11In the centre: Ivory with names

Also connected, without a comparable date (1)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

Nile towards NubiaAncient Egypt · ca. 3300–2800 BCE

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Inscriptions

Naqada labels · ca. 3300–3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Narmer Palette · ca. 3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Ur-Nanshe relief · Mid-3rd millennium BCE · reign of Ur-Nanshe · Sumer
Stele of the Vultures · Towards 2450–2425 BCE · Sumer
Bassetki Statue · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Indus seals · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Naram-Sin Stele · Reign of Naram-Sin, 2254–2218 BCE · Sumer
Stele of Hammurabi · Towards 1750 BCE · Sumer
Phaistos Disc · ≈1700–1650 BCE · Greek worlds
Linear A · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
The voice of Ahiram · c. 11th–10th century BCE · Phoenicians
The Cascajal Block · Proposed c. 1000–900 BCE · Maya worlds
Black Obelisk · 825 BCE · Sumer
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Phoenicians
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Iberians
Stele of Esarhaddon · 7th century BC C. · 671 campaign BCE · Sumer
Ivory with names · End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE · Phoenicians — You are viewing
Shabti of Psamtek · 570–526 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Uni was also Astarte · Towards 510 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar · first quarter of the 5th century BCE · Phoenicians
Ezerovo Ring · 5th century BCE · chronology discussed in the bibliography · Thracians
Twenty-six voiceless signs · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The inscription of Pistiros · 4th century BCE · Thracians
Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Ancient China
Lead tablet · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
A coin with the memory of a blade · 323–222 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
A sky over the liver · End of the second–beginning of the first century BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Hand of Irulegui · First third of the 1st century BCE · Iberians
Betatun altar · 1st century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
The date of 292 · 292 CE · Maya worlds
Kilwa coin · 1482–1493 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Cyrus speaks as king of Babylon · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Oracle bones · from ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
Writing with gaps · Diverse chronologies · Garamantes

Exchange and trade

Weights · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Before the Hittites · c. 19th century BCE · Hittites
Kerma vessel · c. 1802–1640 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Motagua jade · c. 900–600 BCE · Maya worlds
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Iberians
The Gallery of the Conch Shells · Main use c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Mazarrón 1 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Ivory with names · End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE · Phoenicians — You are viewing
The inscription of Pistiros · 4th century BCE · Thracians
Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Ancient China
Lead tablet · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
A coin with the memory of a blade · 323–222 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
Roman glass oinochoe · Late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Moulds for gold · 9th–11th centuries CE · Mande Worlds
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds
Catalan Atlas · after 1375 and before November 1380 · Mande Worlds
Kilwa coin · 1482–1493 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A Kerma vessel deposited at Abydos · Second Intermediate Period · Ancient Egypt
Akrotiri · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
Clicks and contact · precolonial contacts with varying chronologies and subsequent continuity · Bantu-speaking worlds
Dia’s strata · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE · Mande Worlds
Indian Ocean Kiswahili · from the first millennium CE; major development in medieval and modern times · Bantu-speaking worlds
Jenne-jeno contexts · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE · Mande Worlds
Kumbi Saleh · medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries · Mande Worlds
Lothal · ca. 2400–1600 BCE · Indus civilisation
Meluhha · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Nile towards Nubia · ca. 3300–2800 BCE · Ancient Egypt
The Banquet of Seuthes II · Towards 400 BCE. Anabasis episode · Thracians
Travelling objects · Mainly Roman period · Garamantes

Boats

Abydos Boats · ca. 3000 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Tribute to Assyria · c. 848 BCE · Phoenicians
Mazarrón 1 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Ivory with names · End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE · Phoenicians — You are viewing

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

An inscribed blessing

The reading of one of the inscriptions as a blessing to Eshmunkhalots led the excavator Mark Polzer to propose a votive use beforehand for some tusks. Elizabeth Knott takes up that hypothesis in the Met publication on the wreck. It is a substantial difference from interpreting all the marks as simple commercial labels: a tusk could acquire religious significance before becoming transported merchandise. The presence of an altar at the same site raises another question, as it is unresolved whether it was ship's equipment or cargo. Both interpretations remain open.

Museum · Elizabeth Knott · New Perspectives on Phoenician Sailing, The Met (2014)Access recorded: September 5, 2026.

Where it is held

National Museum of Underwater Archaeology · ARQVA

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

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Ivory with names

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Ivory with names

Lion-man

Hohle Fels

Brno II Articulated Figure

Lespugue

Zaraysk Bison

Gebel el-Arak knife

Naqada labels

Ivory tablets

Ivory in Nimrud

Ivory with names

Articulated doll from Tarragona

A closer look

An inscribed blessing

Where it is held

National Museum of Underwater Archaeology · ARQVA

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?