Last week, Shlomi Katzin was scuba diving off the coast of Atlit, when something caught his eye. Moving closer, he realized it was an iron sword more than 3 feet in length!
Having already seen marine-encrusted stone anchors and pottery shards, he realized this was a big deal and brought the to shore in order for it to be kept safe from moving sand. There he called the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) to let them know of his find. Simple tests showed that this sword was more than 900 years old—dating back to the time of the Crusades!
WOW!
Such finds like this are common, the IAA's Marine Archaeology Unit Director, Kobi Sharvit explained, because "the Carmel Coast has a lot of natural coves, which once upon a time, 'provided shelter for ancient ships during storms, and larger coves around the port cities developed.'"
Since 2010, when a huge winter storm brought more than 50-foot waves to hammer the Carmel coastline, the underwater topography changed as well, which ushered in one of the largest and most prolific periods of marine archeology in Israel's history according to the Jerusalem Post's Rossella Tercatin.
Sharvit pointed out that "the coast of Israel is a bridge between east and west and north and south", and then a thick layer of sand from the Nile has helped preserve archeological evidence.
Every storm that comes through, every strong wave, has the potential to shift the seabed and reveal more historical treasure underneath. With the winter rains still to come, I wonder what will be revealed this year?
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