The Belitung shipwreck (also called the Tang shipwreck or Batu Hitam shipwreck) is the wreck of an Arabian dhow that sank around 830 AD.
The ship completed the outward journey from Arabia to China, but sank on the return journey from China, approximately 1.6 kilometers (1 mi) off the coast of Belitung Island, Indonesia.
These artifacts give a new insight into the trade routes between China and the Middle East during the Tang period (830 AD).
The wreck held three main types of Chinese "wares" in the form of bowls: Changsha ware (produced in kilns in Tongguan. White-ware, manufactured in the Ding kilns and including the earliest known intact underglaze ''blue and white'' dishes and "Yue ware" from Zhejiang Province.Â
One Changsha bowl was inscribed with a date: "16th day of the seventh month of the second year of the Baoli reign", or 826 AD.
