Een paspoort uit de Late Bronstijd? Een nieuwe interpretatie van het houten diptiek uit het Uluburun-wrak

Abstract

This brief contribution (in Dutch) argues that the diptych from the Uluburun shipwreck is best interpreted as a Late Bronze Age diplomatic document – as a passport – and not as a merchant’s register. Passports were used by diplomats and royal traders throughout the Late Bronze Age world, and are referred to in various cuneiform and Egyptian texts. The argument that the Uluburun diptych was, in fact, such a diplomatic document is supported by a discussion of the materiality of the object. The use of boxwood and ivory suggests that this was an object of a certain status, whereas the absence of a stylus on board, and the likelihood that the tablets were closed and sealed when the ship sank, further suggest that their content was meant to be read only at the port of arrival.