Exposición FENICIOS. MERCADERES DEL MAR en el MUSEO ARQVA

The National Museum of Underwater Archaeology ARQVA, a state-owned museum under the Ministry of Culture located in Cartagena, is launching Phoenicians. Merchants of the Sea, a temporary exhibition about the discovery of the Phoenician shipwreck Bajo de la Campana. It can be visited free of charge until May 24 in the museum’s temporary exhibition hall, from Monday to Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and on Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

City Councillor for Heritage, Pablo Braquehais, attended the opening of the exhibition, which revolves around the archaeological finds from the Bajo de la Campana shipwreck, a site discovered in the 1950s off the coast of San Javier. For the first time, most of the cargo recovered from the Phoenician site and held by the museum—of extraordinary importance for studies on Phoenician society—is brought together in a single space.

The exhibition is the result of research and restoration work carried out on the archaeological remains. It showcases almost all of the cargo transported by the ship. Among the pieces on display are a large quantity of raw materials, as well as manufactured objects and various materials used for life on board. The exhibition is complemented by loans of pieces from the collections of the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Badajoz, the Museum of Cádiz, the Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of Granada, the Museum of Huelva, and the Archaeological Museum of Ibiza and Formentera.

Currently, of the six Phoenician shipwrecks excavated and studied in depth in the Mediterranean Sea, three have been found on the Spanish coast, specifically in the Region of Murcia—two in the Bay of Mazarrón and the third in the municipality of San Javier. This exhibition and a publication are dedicated to the latter, Bajo de la Campana.

OPENING HOURS

Monday to Saturday: 9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sundays and public holidays: 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.