Underwater archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and amateur divers have discovered the cargo of a Roman trading ship that sank 1,600 years ago in the port of Caesarea.
Roman coins recovered from the shipwreck. Image credit: Clara Amit / Israel Antiquities Authority.
Amongst the finds were Roman coins and exceptionally well-preserved bronze statues of Roman deities.
“In the many marine excavations that have been carried out in Caesarea only very small number of bronze statues have been found, whereas in the current cargo a wealth of spectacular statues were found that were in the city and were removed from it by way of sea,” said IAA archaeologists Dr. Jacob Sharvit and Dr. Dror Planer.
“Many of the artifacts are bronze and in an extraordinary state of preservation: a bronze lamp depicting the image of the sun god Sol, a figurine of the moon goddess Luna, a lamp in the image of the head of an African slave, fragments of three life-size bronze cast statues, objects fashioned in the shape of animals such as a whale, a bronze faucet in the form of a wild boar with a swan on its head, etc.”
“The sand protected the statues; consequently they are in an amazing state of preservation – as though they were cast yesterday rather than 1,600 years ago,” the archaeologists said.
In addition, fragments of large jars were found that were used for carrying drinking water for the crew in the ship and for transportation at sea.
“These are extremely exciting finds, which apart from their extraordinary beauty, are of historical significance,” they said.
Figurine of the moon deity Luna and a bronze lamp decorated with the image of the sun deity Sol. Image credit: Clara Amit / Israel Antiquities Authority.
The location and distribution of the ancient finds on the seabed indicate that a large merchant ship was carrying a cargo of metal slated recycling, which apparently encountered a storm at the entrance to the harbor and drifted until it smashed into the seawall and the rocks.
“One of the biggest surprises in particular was the discovery of two metallic lumps composed of thousands of coins weighing c. 20 kg which was in the form of the pottery vessel in which they were transported,” the scientists said.
According to the team, the coins bear the image of the Emperor Constantine who ruled the Western Roman Empire (312–324 CE) and was later known as Constantine the Great, ruler of the Roman Empire (324–337 CE), and of Licinius, an emperor who ruled the eastern part of the Roman Empire and was a rival of Constantine, until his downfall in a battle that was waged between the two rulers.
“The range of finds recovered from the sea reflects the large volume of trade and the status of Caesarea’s harbor during this time, which was known as period of economic and commercial stability in the wake of the stability of the Roman Empire,” Dr. Sharvit and Dr. Planer concluded.
