The Tang Shipwreck Collection, housed in the Khoo Teck Puat Gallery in Singapore, is arguably one of the most controversial collections recovered in recent years. Discovered as the Belitung Shipwreck in 1998, the government of Singapore contracted Seabed Excavations to salvage the wreck without archaeologists present. Despite this mismanagement, the divers recovered thousands of pristine Chinese ceramic wares, gilded mirrors, and deduced the shipwreck to be a dhow, or Arabian built vessel from A.D. 830. As impressive as this collection is, the Smithsonian Museum decided against publicizing the exhibit and has since encouraged a second, scholarly excavation of the site. Further investigations into this wreck collection can help fill the gaps in the early Middle Eastern-China Trade.
