During a stay on the Island of Malta where Paul was shipwrecked and then spent 3 months on the island before being transported to Rome for trial (Acts 28:1, 11) one of the highlights was a visit to the Malta Maritime Museum.
View looking northeast at the exterior of the Malta Maritime Museum.
The museum is housed in the former Royal Naval Bakery that was built in the 1840. The bakery supplied naval personnel of the British Mediterranean Fleet. The main part of the collection (97%+) includes boats, models of ships, anchors, amphorae, cannons, etc. But I had come to see the Roman Anchors that figure so prominently in the discussion of where exactly Paul’s ship ran aground and was broken up (see Franz below for a discussion).
Acts 27:29 Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow.
Acts 27:40 Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach.
After spending over an hour looking at interesting, but not too relevant displays, I had not found the anchors that I was looking for. So I asked the attendants at the entrance about these anchors. Well, it turned out that the display of the ancient anchors was in transition and they were collected in a rather small corridor near the entrance to the museum. The plan being executed will eventually display these precious artifacts in a wonderful display. However, when I was at the museum, they were not on “public” display so please, cut the museum a bit of slack for how the anchor stocks look in these pictures! But I had traveled 5,262 miles and was thrilled just to be able to see these anchors—and they were kind enough to allow me to take pictures (without flash of course).
Temporary “home” for the Roman Anchor Stocks that are in the Malta Maritime Museum.
In this temporary “home” 11 Anchor Stocks were collected. Ok, so what is an anchor stock?
In the above (from the Museum) all the parts of this “ancient anchor” are modern except the lead “Stock.”
The “Flukes” are the parts of the anchor, usually wooden and sometimes tipped with copper, that dig into the bottom of the sea. At the top of the wooden shank (right) a rope connects the anchor to the ship. The “stock” is made out of lead and often has a wood core,. It helps the anchor to sink and helps to position the anchor so that the “flukes” dig into the sea bottom.
Ok, are any of these Anchor Stocks from Paul’s wrecked ship? See the following blog posts.
For a good discussion of the shipwreck, ancient anchors, etc., and a vigorous interaction with the views of Robert Cornuke, see Gordon Franz “Does the ‘Lost Shipwreck of Paul’ Hold Water? Or, Have the Anchors from the Apostle Paul’s Shipwreck Been discovered on Malta?”
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