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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