Israeli Swimmer Finds Roman Marble Treasures from Ancient Shipwreck

Marble treasure (Israel Antiquities Authority / Twitter)
Israel Antiquities Authority / Twitter
Joel B. Pollak

A swimmer exploring the water off the coast of an Israeli town discovered marble treasures from an ancient Roman shipwreck, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Monday.

The Jewish News Syndicate reported:

An enormous cargo of marble artifacts, borne in a merchant ship that was shipwrecked in a storm during the Roman Empire period, was uncovered in the coastal waters north of Netanya, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Monday.

The find, which was discovered by an experienced sea swimmer, is the first known cargo of its kind from the Eastern Mediterranean, the state-run archaeological body said.

The artifacts, including huge 1,800-year-old marble architectural elements, were discovered about 220 yards offshore from Moshav Beit Yanai, about 3.7 miles north of Netanya.

The swimmer, Gideon Harris, dove about four meters underwater when he spotted the marble blocks, according to the Times of Israel. He reported his find to the Israel Antiquities Authority, which monitors the discovery and study of Israel’s ancient archeological sites.

The Times of Israel added:

According to Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Kobi Sharvit, the columns are part of some 44 tons of marble blocks that appear to be from the wreck of a ship that was on its way to a Roman port — potentially Ashkelon or Gaza — to unload its precious cargo.

The IAA believes this sea-wrecked cargo — exposed during winter storms that brushed away centuries of sand — is the oldest of its kind known in the Eastern Mediterranean.

…

Sharvit, director of the IAA’s underwater archaeology unit, confirmed that there are no visible remains from the ship on the sea bottom. He said the IAA will launch an undersea excavation next week alongside students from the University of Rhode Island in the hopes of discovering waterlogged wood from under the massive marble blocks, or a nearby underwater sand dune that may have buried and preserved parts of the ship.

Tourists and members of the public occasionally make stunning archeological finds by accident in Israel. In 2016, a hiker found a rare golden coin bearing the image of Roman emperor Augustus Caesar in the Galilee.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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