Thursday, November 3, 2011
- 1,500 year-old Byzantine ships uncovered
Heraklion, Crete is hosting the 13th Conference on Graeco-Oriental and African Studies from November 4 to 6.
During the conference, Istanbul University archaeologist, Professor Ufuk Kocabas will present the results of the archaeological research conducted at what is believed to be the early medieval ports of Constantinople (The Yenikapi Byzantine Shipwrecks Project). Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of 32 vessels (see picture), dating from the 5th to 11th century A.D., some of them in very good condition.
- The Emirate of Crete
Most of the world’s top Arabologists are invited to this scientific meeting which will examine two main subjects: the Saracen Emirate of Crete (824-961) until its conquest by the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas and the ports of East Mediterranean and Red Sea (4th-13th century).
The conference is organized by the city of Heraclion and the Institute for Graeco-Oriental and African Studies.
The purpose is not only to examine warfare between East and West in the Middle Ages, but to charter the social background and its impact on Modern times. The Cretan Emirate was not a pirates’ nest as the Byzantines described it but more of a thriving commercial centre luring contemporary intellectuals. It is to this end that one of the opening speeches will be delivered by the Ambassador of Greece to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dimitrios Letsios.
[Photos: The second picture depicts the saracene army attacking Crete and the third picture depicts the reconquest of the island by the Byzantines.]
