A picture of it can be seen in Bonanno

plate 66.This anchor would be a Type IIIC anchor according to Haldane’s classification. He dates this type of stock from the second half of the second century BC to the middle of the first century AD based on two secure archaeological contexts (1984: 8).If this anchor stock had been recovered in a controlled archaeological excavation there might have been some wood found in the "soul." If so, this could have been used for carbon dating and given us a clearer date for the casting of the anchor stock.According to Mr. Cornuke, on two occasions Professor Anthony Bonanno was shown a video of this anchor stock. The first was during dinner with Mr. Cornuke, Dr. Phillips and his wife on their second trip to Malta. Professor Bonanno was shown it on the screen of a tiny video (2003: 128). The professor concluded, "Anchor stocks such as the one you are showing me in this video were used from approximately 100 B.C. to 100 A.D. It could have come from any period within that range" (2003: 129). The video was again shown to him on Mr. Cornuke’s third trip to Malta. Again, it was viewed on the screen of a small video camera. The professor states, "From what I can tell from these videos again without the benefit of physical examination these other two anchors also appear to be typical Roman anchor stocks, appropriate to the era of St. Paul’s shipwreck in Malta" (2003: 184). Professor Bonanno qualifies his observation because he has not physically examined the anchor stock in person. It is difficult to evaluate an archaeological find on a small video screen. There is no mention in the book of the professor making a "physical examination" of this anchor stock in the Nautical Museum.The third anchor (#3) was found by Charles Grech and Tony Micallef-Borg on Feb. 10, 1972, the feast of St. Paul and Charles’ 33rd birthday. It was found in front of the big cave at the Munxar Reef and brought up with the help of Tony Micallef-Borg soon after he had found the first two anchors. Anchor #3 measured "a little over five feet long" (2003: 164). It was taken to Charles’ house where it resided until he turned it over to the national museum. The tag on the anchor says, "NMA unp # 7/1 Naxxar." A picture of it can be seen at the top of Plate 5. From my observation of this anchor, it had the lead tenon through the shank, thus making it a Type IIIB anchor. Haldane dates this type anchor stock from the mid-second-century BC to the mid-first century BC. Recently, however, Roman legionary anchors were discovered that date to about AD 70 (Haldane 1984: 8).Professor Anthony Bonanno examined this anchor and very cautiously said, "It could have belonged to a cargo ship, possibly a grain cargo ship, and possibly one from Alexandria" (2003: 183, emphasis by the reviewer). He went on to conjecture, "This anchor stock would fit very well within the era of St. Paul" (2003: 184).The fourth anchor (#4) was found by "Mario" (a pseudonym) in the late 60’s (2003: 176, 204) and was over 5 feet long (2003: 171). It was taken to "Mario’s" house where it resides in his courtyard. A picture of it can be seen at the bottom of Plate 6. One can observe the lead tenon, making this a Type IIIB anchor as well.His widow was not sure whether it was found off the Munxar Reef or Camino, the island between Malta and Gozo (2003: 178). Wilfred Perotta, however, was able to confirm that the anchor was found off the Munxar Reef (2003: 204).Anchor #4 supposedly is in a private collection and the holders are having "meaningful dialogue" with the authorities (Cornuke 2003: 221). "Meaningful dialogue" is an interesting description as the antiquity laws are clear; all ancient artifacts must be turned over to the proper authorities. A general amnesty was issued and the deadline passed.The other two anchors (#5 and #6), were found by a mystery diver who did not want his identity revealed (2003: 212). In an account that reads like a cloak and dagger mystery, the author relates his conversation with this individual (2003: 210-215). The diver claims he found the two anchors in 1994 in front of the "Munxar Pass" in about 10 meters (ca. 33 feet) of water (2003: 213). The mystery man claims to have sold them (2003: 214). The whereabouts of these two anchors are unknown. There is no description of these anchors so the type cannot be determined.Mr. Cornuke implies that these are the anchors the sailors on the Alexandrian grain ship were trying to let down right before they were shipwrecked (2003: 208-210, see Acts 27:29,30).Computer modelOn his third trip to Malta, Mr. Cornuke gained access to a sophisticated computer at the Rescue Coordination Center of the Armed Forces of Malta with hope that it would "objectively speak to us across the millennia and trace the, until now, uncertain path of the biblical event of Paul’s journey from Crete to Malta" (2003:184). Computer models are only as good as the information put into the program.The information put into the computer program included: (1) the "general parameters of a grain freighter," (2) the type of wood from the wooden hull, (3) the "veering characteristics of a northeaster," (4) the "leeway of time," and (5) the currents during the fall season for that part of the Mediterranean Sea (2003: 188). Unfortunately, the specific information that was put into the computer was not given in the book, perhaps to maintain a less technical approach for a popular-level book. Researchers, however, who would like to follow up on this exercise, would need the specific information.It should be pointed out that "the precise appearance of great grain ships like those mentioned in the Book of Acts and the writings of Lucian" are unknown (Fitzgerald 1990: 31). Was it a two-mast or a three-mast grain ship? How much did it actually weigh? How did the drag of the windsock, or sea anchors affect the speed and direction of the ship (Acts 27:17 NASB)? What time did they leave Fair Haven on Crete? Was it morning or mid-day? Exactly what time did the wind begin to blow? These are unknown variables that cannot be put into the computer calculations and would affect the outcome of the computer model. Of course, the biggest unknown factor would be the sovereign Hand of God controlling the speed and direction of the wind.It is not accurate to conclude that "the computer program confirmed that the ship must have had [sic] come from the south and that its drift had completely eliminated St. Paul’s Bay and other bays closely associated with it as the possible landing site" (Cornuke 2003: 192). To use a baseball analogy, the computer model can put you into the ballpark (Malta in fourteen days), but it cannot guarantee a hit, much less a home run (St. Thomas Bay)!Syrtis Sandy beach or Shallow Bays with Sand bar?The reader should be cautious with some of the geographical positions taken in the book that are, at worst, not accurate and that at best, needing more discussion. A case in point is that of the Syrtis mentioned in Acts 27:17. The author identifies it as "an inescapable vast wasteland of sun-scorched sand where they would certainly suffer a slow, waterless death" (Cornuke 2003: 42). According to the book, this sand was on the northern coast of Africa (2003: 190 and map 1). Unfortunately we have no idea where this idea came from because it is not footnoted or documented.In actuality, the Syrtis was not dry desert but two bodies of water, the "name of two dangerous, shallow gulfs off the coast of North Africa" (Olson 1992:4: 286).Strabo, a Greek geographer, describes the location and dimensions of the Greater and Lesser Syrtis in his Geography (2:5:20; LCL 1: 473,745). Elsewhere he describes these two bodies of water in these terms: "The difficulty with both [the Greater] Syrtis and the Little Syrtis is that in many places their deep waters contain shallows, and the result is, at the ebb and the flow of the tides, that sailors sometimes fall into the shallows and stick there, and that the safe escape of a boat is rare.

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