The Bom Jesus Shipwreck

Illustration by Jon Foster

The Oranjemund wreck refers to the remains of a Portuguese merchant ship from the first half of the 16th century that was discovered in 2008 off the desert coast of Namibia. It is generally attributed to the Bom Jesus.

The Bom Jesus was a newly built carrack that left Lisbon on Friday March 7, 1533 as part of a fleet of three ships bound for India to purchase spices (pepper, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon). The ship was under the command of Dom Francisco de Noronha with 250 people on board, several tons of copper ingots bearing the mark of the Fuggers and a large number of coins. The ship sank due to bad weather when she hit a rock 30 meters from the current coast. He was resting at a depth of 7 to 8 meters2. The fate of the crew is unknown. However, no human remains were discovered and the proximity of the coast meant that they were able to survive.

 

The wreck was discovered on April 1, 2008 during the diamond ore mining process that was taking place along the coast of the Sperrgebiet 18 km north of Oranjemund. To do this, land located by the sea is drained over nearly 200 m by separating it from the ocean by large sand dunes and pumping water to facilitate the extraction of gravel containing the diamonds. 

Lisuarte de Abreu, the 1533 fleet showing Bom Jesus after running aground – possibly on the coast of today’s Namibia.

It was on this occasion that employees of the Namdeb diamond company discovered ingots and copper tubes and informed the archaeologists who noted the importance of the discovery since it was the oldest wreck of a European boat south of the Sahara. In order not to delay the mining operations, a first campaign of excavations is carried out from April 11, 2008 with the aim of finishing it on the 25th. In view of the importance of the discoveries, the site is essentially observed but the material is left on placed and reburied with a view to organizing a rescue excavation which was carried out from September 8 to October 10, 2008 in the presence of numerous specialists. 

The state of conservation was particularly good since the wood of the hull and many objects were protected by the large amount of copper that the ship contained, on the one hand by its weight which prevented them from being damaged by the movements currents and on the other hand by its chemical properties which have slowed down their biodegradation. Moreover, it is one of the rare wrecks which could be extracted by working on dry ground. Based on the fragments collected, the length of the boat is estimated at 40-60 meters.

 

The results of the excavations are as follows: 2288 round copper ingots weighing approximately 17 tons, 549 lead plates and ingots weighing 6.3 tons, 170 tin ingots (500 kg), 105 objects iron (5 tons), 162 wooden objects (7.5 tons), 105 elephant tusks (2 tons), 14 cannons (5 tons), 24 cannonballs (20 kg), 7 sword blades, 181 kitchen instruments (5 kg) and 10 navigation instruments (3 astrolabes, 3 compasses).

 

The coins are 2266 in number, including 1917 Spanish gold coins, essentially “excelentes” representing Isabella of Castile with her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon. To this are added 171 Portuguese gold coins, heavier and bearing the arms of John III of Portugal, 127 Portuguese silver coins, 24 gold coins from Moorish workshops and some unidentified coins.

 

The geochemical analysis of 60 copper ingots revealed a great homogeneity in their composition and that they had been treated by liquation to extract the silver with lead from the region of Krakow. The copper probably originated from the Fugger mines located at Banská Bystrica in the Slovak Ore Mountains.

The full story : Here