In 1998, a shipwreck and its cargo were found near Nelitung Island in the Java Sea. Seabed Explorations, a German company, conducted the salvage with permission from the Indonesian government. In 2005, Singapore acquired most of the cargo through the generous donation of the Estate of Khoo Teck Puat, in his late honour. The collection is now under Singapore’s National Heritage Board, with a selection on display in the Khoo Teck Puat Gallery of the Asian Civilisations Museum.

Het Belitung scheepswrak is belangrijk omdat het veel
vertelt (en nieuwe vragen stelt) over de maritieme zijderoutes:
waar kwamen de boten, wie en wat vervoerde het, wanneer, enz.
Het scheepswrak bevatte gouden en zilveren voorwerpen maar
ook meer dan 55.000 stuks Chinees aardewerk uit verschillende
ovens.

Londen, British Museum, Silk Roads, Glass bottle, Middle East, AD 830s, inkstone with engraved insect, China, AD 830s, bronze mirror, Sumatra, Indonesia, early AD 800s. Persoonlijke voorwerpen.

Gold bowl with a pair of geese, probably Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, AD 830s.

Silver bowl with rhinoceros, probably Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, AD 830s.

Golden cup with ringed handle, probably Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, AD 830s.

About 30 remarkable gold and silver items from the ship are the first discoveries of their kind to be found outside China. The shape of this cup, with its ringed handle, is derived from Sogdian (Central Asian) metalware. The figures that adorn each side are identifiable as Central Asian by their costumes and hairstyles. They include musicians and a dancer who raises his arms and one leg to perform the ‘Sogdian whirl’. Similar cups have been found in the Tang capital, suggesting this type of vessel was also made for a local elite market.

Green splashed ewer, Gongxian Kilns, Henan Province, China, AD 830s.