Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Draughtsman / artist · Expedition member · Photographer · Scholar

Susan Womer Katzev

fl. 1964–2022 · United States

Sculptor and illustrator who drew, photographed and filmed the Kyrenia shipwreck excavation of 1968-69 with her husband Michael Katzev, and later led work on its final publication.

Biography

Susan Womer Katzev drew and photographed the Kyrenia shipwreck excavation of 1968-69 and directed a film of it; after her husband's death she took charge of publishing the ship. She trained as a sculptor at Swarthmore College, the Boston Museum School and the Tyler School of Fine Arts2. In 1964 she was working as an artist on the Byzantine wreck at Yassiada, Turkey, for George Bass, and met Michael Katzev there; they married in 19661. In September 1967 she was a member of Katzev's Cyprus Underwater Archaeological Search team, with Jeremy Green and E. T. Hall3. Harpster prints her surname as "Katvez". During the excavation of 1968-69 she served as draftsman and photographer, and directed and wrote a documentary film2.

In 1973 the Katzevs, overseeing the reassembly of the hull in Kyrenia castle, persuaded Bass to put the headquarters of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology on Cyprus. The events of 1974 ended that plan, and they moved to Athens for six years of library research and returned to the United States in 19821. Michael and Susan Katzev wrote the 1989 paper on the building of Kyrenia II3.

After 2001 she took over the final publication2. Harpster reports that the research has advanced under her direction since at least 2010, alongside the renewal of the display in the castle3. The first volume of the final report appeared in 2022, cited as Katzev S.W. and Swiny H.W.4.

Life and work

  1. 1964
    Met Michael Katzev while working as an artist on the University of Pennsylvania Byzantine shipwreck excavation at Yassiada, Turkey, under George Bass.

    YassiadaBass 2002, p. 1Katzev 2008, p. 7

  2. 1966
    Married Michael Katzev.

    Bass 2002, p. 1

  3. September 1967
    Member of Michael Katzev's Cyprus Underwater Archaeological Search team (with Jeremy Green and E. T. Hall), the first large-scale maritime survey of Cyprus's coast; the team was taken to the wreck off Kyrenia late in the season. Harpster prints her name 'Susan Katvez'.

    CyprusHarpster 2018Bass 2002, p. 1

  4. 1968–1969
    During Michael Katzev's directorship of the Kyrenia ship excavation she served as draftsman, photographer, and director and writer of a film documenting the project.

    KyreniaKatzev 2008, p. 7

  5. 1973
    With Michael Katzev, while overseeing reassembly of the ship's remains in Kyrenia castle, convinced George Bass to put INA headquarters on Cyprus.

    KyreniaBass 2002, p. 1

  6. 1974–1982
    After the 1974 events on Cyprus the Katzevs moved to Athens for six years of library research on the Kyrenia ship; they returned to the United States in 1982.

    AthensBass 2002, p. 1

  7. 1982–1985
    Co-authored with Michael Katzev the 1989 TROPIS paper on building the replica Kyrenia II (built at the Manolis Psaros yard 1982-85, launched 1985, a collaboration of INA and the Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition).

    PiraeusHarpster 2018

  8. 2001
    After Michael Katzev's death (8 Sept 2001) took over the work of bringing his studies on the Kyrenia ship to final publication.

    Katzev 2008, p. 7Harpster 2018

  9. 2010–2018
    Directed the completion of research and final publication of the Kyrenia shipwreck collection, in parallel with the bicommunal programme to renew storage and display in Kyrenia castle (Harpster).

    KyreniaHarpster 2018

  10. 2022
    Co-editor, with H. W. Swiny, of The Kyrenia Ship Final Excavation Report, Volume I (Oxbow), as cited by Given.

    Given 2025

Connections

8 people
Michael KatzevAndreas CariolouHelena Wylde SwinyRobin C. M. PiercyGeorge Fletcher BassHarry E. TzalasJeremy GreenE. T. HallSusan Womer Katzev
FamilyFieldworkScholarshipColleagues

Family

Fieldwork & employment

Scholarship

Colleagues & contacts

Sources

  1. 1.George F. Bass (2002). “Michael Lazare Katzev, 1939-2001”. Online
  2. 2.Susan Katzev (2008). “The Kyrenia Ship: Her Recent Journey”. Near Eastern Archaeology 71, 76-81. American Schools of Oriental Research. Online
  3. 3.Matthew Harpster (2018). “Kyrenia Shipwreck Excavation”. Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer. Online
  4. 4.Michael Given (2025). “Over the landscape, in the landscape? Knowledge and agency in Cypriot archaeology, 1870-1910”. Empire & Excavation: Critical perspectives on archaeology in British-period Cyprus, 1878-1960. Leiden, Sidestone Press.
  5. 5.S. W. Katzev, M. L. Katzev (1974). “Last Harbor for the Oldest Ship”. National Geographic 146, 618-625.
  6. 6.S. W. Katzev (2007). “The Ancient Ship of Kyrenia, Beneath Cyprus Seas”. Great Moments in Greek Archaeology, 286-299. Athens, Kapon.
  7. 7.M. L. Katzev, S. W. Katzev (1986). “Kyrenia II”. INA Newsletter 13, 1-11.
  8. 8.M. L. Katzev, S. W. Katzev (1989). “'Kyrenia II': Building a replica of an ancient Greek merchantman”. TROPIS I: 1st International Symposium on Ship Construction in Antiquity, Piraeus, 30 August-1 September 1985, 163-175. Athens, Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition.
  9. 9.S. W. Katzev, H. W. Swiny (2022). The Kyrenia Ship Final Excavation Report, Volume I: History of the Excavation, Amphoras, Pottery and Coins as Evidence for Dating. Oxford, Oxbow Books.