1600-year-old treasure trove from Roman-era ship discovered in the sea bed near Israel

The cargo consisting of thousands of coins and fragments of life-size bronze cast statues from a Roman-era ship that sank off the Mediterranean coast 1,600 years ago has been discovered near Israel. This discovery made in the harbour of Caesareahas has been described as the country's most significant discovery of Roman-era artefacts for 30 years.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 16 May 2016.

In the opinion of the Israel Antiques Authority, the finds are in an "amazing state" of preservation because of the coatings of sand. The remains of the ship were "left uncovered on the sea bottom" and were discovered by two divers last month. Then followed successive trips to recover the haul.
The cargo also has animal-shaped objects and bronze lamps and is believed to be a rare archaeological find since metal statues of this types were routinely melted down and recycled during the period. Earlier excavations at the site had uncovered some bronze statues but the current haul is said to be much larger than previous discoveries.
It appears the merchant ship was loaded with the metal cargo and the intention might have been to recycle it. The vessel must have hit a storm as it entered Caesarea and had drifted away before hitting the seawall and rocks. The director of marine archaeology at the IAA feels that some of the objects could be traced back to the fourth century, while other items are from the first and second century.
Incidentally, last year divers had discovered a stash of gold coins inscribed in Arabic and thought to be 1,000 years old on the sea bed off Israel.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Treasure trove of 11th century gold coins unearthed from ancient Israeli harbor

#fatimid #israel #egypt #caesarea #goldcoins A group of divers belonging to the Marine Archaeology Unit in Israel has stumbled upon the largest hoard of gold coins ever discovered in the country. It seems nearly 2000 gold coins of the Fatimid period, or the eleventh century, were unearthed from the seabed of the ancient harbor in Caesarea National Park.
This information has been released by the Israel Antiquities Authority as reported on foxnews.com dated 17 February 2015. In the opinion of Kobi Sharvit, director of the Marine Archaeology Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority, this could be the result of a shipwreck of an official treasury boat which was carrying taxes collected and was on its way to the central government in Egypt. The coins were probably meant to pay the members of the Fatimid military garrison that was stationed at Caesarea, Israel.
Another theory is that the coins could have belonged to a sunken merchant ship. The condition of the coins are good in spite of having been in the bottom of the sea for over 1000 years. This has been revealed by Robert Cole, an expert numismatist.
The five divers who have found the treasure have been called “model citizens” by the antiquities organization. In case they would have tried to remove them, or tried to sell them, they could have been imprisoned for up to five years.