According to reports, a local swimmer discovered a marble freight ship from the Roman Empire in the middle of April off the shore of Israel’s Yanai beach.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Gideon Harris discovered the find. According to footage released by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), he went to a depth of around four meters and stumbled across the 1,800-year-old stranded cargo.
The Times of Israel reports that IAA archaeologist Kobi Shavit claimed the columns discovered by Harris are among at least 44 tons of marble pieces that were being transported to a Roman port.
According to the site, winter storms washed off more than a millennium’s worth of sand, revealing what may be the oldest find of its sort in the eastern Mediterranean. A 20-foot marble architrave or entrance lintel and partly sculpted Corinthian capitals were discovered during the first excavations.
Sharvit explained that the ship, which was expected to be able to carry 200 tons, had vanished and that no trace of it could be seen anywhere. The University of Rhode Island students are anticipated to participate in underwater excavations.
Sharvit thought the ship’s destination might be gleaned from the structure at the site. The enormous marble slabs are arranged in a precise pattern meant to evoke the layout of the ship’s hold. He deduces from the slabs’ arrangement that the ship weighed anchor while taking in water, most likely during a coastal storm.
Sharvit said that storms often come suddenly along the country’s coast, and because the ships can’t steer out of trouble, they’re oftentimes pulled in, and they shipwreck.
Last September, archaeologists in Israel discovered an extraordinary cave that had been shut for at least 3,300 years and was likely used as a human burial site during the reign of Ramesses II.
During construction near a beach in Tel Aviv’s southern neighborhood, workmen accidentally dug through the cave’s ceiling, as reported by LiveScience. In the cave, the researchers recovered bronzed objects and pottery linked with funeral rituals. It appeared to have been frozen in time.
