Two sports and recreational divers in Israel have accidentally found the wreck of an ancient Roman ship with ancient artifacts that sank about 1,700 years ago, the largest underwater artifact of ancient Roman artifacts in Israel in 30 years, archaeologists said.
Divers Rans Feinstein and Offer Raanan found the shipwreck at the ancient port city of Caesarea in April, but reporters were only notified on Monday when the underwater artifacts were first shown.
Divers find ships with many objects of ancient Roman art
The two divers, finding several works of art near the wreck, told archaeologists about their finding. The Israel Antiquities Authority sent its divers there, who found and excavated bronze statues, lamps, jugs, animal figures, anchors and thousands of coins with the families of the ancient Roman emperors Constantine and Lycia.
Some of the objects found date back to the 4th century AD, while others have survived from the 1st and 2nd centuries, said Jakob Šarvits, director of marine archeology at the Department of Antiquities.
Another tragic maritime story that happened more than a thousand years ago is revealed
Archaeologists believe that an old merchant ship was found in a storm near Caesarea. So the sailors threw anchors in an attempt to save the ship, but the ship sank with its cargo and remained there for 1,700 years.
