About 1,800 years ago, the ship, carrying 44 tons of cargo, was caught in a storm and sank.
Three weeks ago, swimming to 200 meters off the Israeli coast near the town of Beit Yanai, north of Tel Aviv, swimmer Gideon Harris dived to about 4 meters and came across a huge load of artifacts marble antiques from the Roman era, dating back to about 1,800 years ago. The Times of Israel reports it in a article published on Monday. Studies determined that the ship was carrying 44 tons of marble. The load consisted of Corinthian order columns with floral decorations, capitals and marble columns up to six meters long. For scientists it is the oldest cargo ship sunk in the eastern Mediterranean with 200 tons of cargo.
The vessel was caught in a storm in shallow waters. The crew allegedly dropped anchor in a “desperate attempt” to prevent the vessel from running aground, but the sinking was inevitable. “These storms often break out suddenly along the coast of the countrysaid Kobi Sharvit, director of underwater archeology at the Israel Antiquities Authority. “Due to the vessels’ limited maneuvering potential, they are often driven into shallow water and wrecked“, he has declared. The expert added that the marble shipment could have left the territory of present-day Turkey or Greece and was traveling to “Ascalon or Gaza also, perhaps in Alexandria of Egypt”.