A diver has discovered an 1,800-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Israel containing a treasure trove of marble artifacts

An eagle-eyed swimmer named Gideon Harris recently alerted the Israel Antiquities Authority to what would become a gigantic discovery: 1,800-year-old marble artifacts that sank to the ocean floor when the merchant ship who was carrying them was wrecked in a storm off coastal waters. from Moshav Beit Yanai, north of Netanya.

According to the Antiquities Authority, it is the oldest such sea cargo to have been discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean. The loot consists of marble Corinthian column capitals and a marble architrave measuring about 20 feet long. Experts assume that they were intended for a public building such as a temple or a theater.

Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“We have known for a long time of the existence of this shipwrecked cargo,” said Koby Sharvit, Director of the Underwater Archeology Unit on Facebook, “but we weren’t sure where it was because it was covered in sand, so we couldn’t investigate it. Recent storms must have exposed the cargo. Thanks to the discovery made by Harris, the diver, the authorities were able to carry out preliminary archaeological investigations. Sharvit said a more in-depth research project is planned.

The vessel in question was carrying a cargo of at least 200 tonnes which likely originated from the Aegean or Black Sea region, Turkey or Greece. It was bound for a port on the southern coast of the Levant, such as Gaza or Alexandria, Egypt.

Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“These beautiful pieces are characteristic of stately large-scale public buildings,” Sharvit wrote. “Even in Roman Caesarea, such architectural elements were made of local stone covered with white plaster to look like marble. Here we are talking about real marble.

The discovery not only revealed these artifacts, but also resolved a long-standing archaeological debate over whether imported architectural elements were entirely worked in their country of origin, or whether imported materials were partially carved and then finished. closer to the construction site. This discovery shows that it was the latter.

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