Treasure trove discovered in Mediterranean Sea
14:41, 17/05/2016, Tuesday
Yeni Şafak
A huge treasure, including bronze statues, coins with images of Roman emperors Constantine and Licinius, lamps, jars, animal sculptures, discovered in sunken merchant ship by Israel authorities
Two amateur Israeli divers discovered a treasure trove containing Roman-era artifacts in the Mediterranean Sea.
Divers Ran Feinstein and Ofer Ra'anan were diving in the Mediterranean Sea just off the Caesarea coast when they found a sunken merchant ship in the seabed, which they turned over to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
Many items in the ship's hold were unbelievably preserved. They include a statue of the moon goddess and candlesticks decorated with images of gods and ancient vessels.
IAA divers went down to investigate further and found the remains of the merchant ship buried in the sand on the sea floor.
Other items recovered are bronze statues, coins with images of Roman emperors Constantine and Licinius, lamps, jars, animal sculptures and anchors.
According to the IAA, some of the objects date back to as far as the fourth century AD, while the merchant ship is believed to have gone down off the coast of Caesarea about 1,600 years ago.
Another shipwreck was discovered last year near the same ancient port of Caesarae.
The findings included a cache of gold coins from the Fatimid Caliphate dynasty that ruled Northern Africa from 909 to 1171. These are currently on display at Caesarae Harbor.
