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artistryingold
December 27th, 2021
Two ships that sank in the exact location more than 1,000 years apart in the ancient port city of Caesarea are yielding a bounty of jewelry, gems, coins and artifacts for the Marine Archaeology Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

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Among the rarest and most fascinating items pulled from the ocean floor is a thick gold ring set with a greenish-blue gemstone carved with the figure of a young shepherd boy dressed in a tunic and carrying a ram or a sheep on his shoulders. The depiction of the "Good Shepherd" is one of the earliest images used in Christianity for symbolizing the compassionate and benevolent characteristics of Jesus.

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The ring was recovered from the remains of the older of the two wrecks and dates to the third century AD. The jewelry was likely owned by someone of a very high position who was also an early practitioner of Christianity. According to the IAA, Caesarea housed one of the first Christian communities.

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Also recovered from the older wreck was a carved red gemstone that might have been set in a "gemma" ring, said the IAA. An ancient string instrument called a lyre is artfully carved into cabochon-cut stone. In Jewish tradition, the instrument is known as a "kinnor,' or King David's harp.

Both ships apparently were destroyed during violent storms while attempting to seek refuge at Caesarea, a major port that was originally built by the Roman King Herod the Great in the year 25 BC.

A team of divers from the Israeli Antiquities Authority’s Marine Archaeology Unit had been conducting a routine survey of the ocean floor near Caesarea, a town about 35 miles north of Tel Aviv, when they encountered the wrecked hulls of two ships at a depth of about 4 meters (13 feet).

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The marine treasures included the following:

  • Hundreds of silver and bronze Roman coins from the mid-third century AD.
  • A large hoard of 560 silver coins from the Mamluk period (14th century AD).
  • A bronze figurine in the form of an eagle (symbolizing Roman rule).
  • A figurine of a Roman pantomimus in a comic mask.
  • Numerous bronze bells (used to ward off evil spirits).
  • Pottery vessels.
  • An inkwell.
  • Multiple metal items from the hull of a wooden ship, including dozens of large bronze nails, lead pipes from a bilge pump and a large iron anchor broken in pieces — attesting to the force it withstood until it finally snapped, probably in a storm.

Check out the IAA's informative video about the treasures recovered from the Caesarea wrecks…



Credits: Photos by Yaniv Berman and Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority.