This past Saturday, Atlit resident Shlomi Katzin went diving off Carmel Beach and made a highly unusual find.
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Katin noticed a number of apparently ancient artifacts on the sea floor that had apparently been exposed after recent wave and current activity moved the sand that had covered them. In addition to ancient stone and iron anchors and pottery fragments, he spotted a sword whose blade measures about a meter (3.3 feet) and whose hilt measures about 30 cm. (11.8 inches).
The sword turned out to be 900 years old.
For fear the artifacts would be stolen or reburied beneath sand, Katzin took the sword. When he was on land, he reached out to the northern district inspector for the Israel Antiquities Authority's Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery and reported the find. Katzin handed the sword over and was awarded a citation for good citizenship.
The IAA inspector, Nir Distelfeld, said that the sword had been perfectly preserved.
"It's a rare, beautiful find and it appears to have belonged to a Crusader knight. It was found covered by sea debris, but it appears to be made of iron. It's exciting to encounter a personal object like this, which takes your imagination back in time 900 years to a different period, of knights, armor, and swords," Distelfeld said.
Kobi Sharvit, who directs the IAA's Marine Archaeology Unit, explained that the Carmel Beach is home to natural bays that could function as hiding places for ancient ships during storms, and larger bays around which entire communities and ancient port towns developed, such as Dor and Atlit.
"In every period, these conditions attracted trade vessels that left many archaeological traces behind. The sword found recently is only one of these," Sharvit said.
The antiquities-rich site where Katzin found the sword has been under IAA observation since June 2021 after the authority received reports about its existence from Boaz Langford and Rafael Bahlul. Artifacts buried there are covered with sand and revealed based on waves and currents, so can be difficult to extract.
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"In recent years, swimmers and free divers have been discovering archaeological artifacts more often lately, due to these sports becoming more common," Sharvit explained.
"Every storm, even a small one, moves the sand and exposes parts of the seabed, and at the same time, covers others. This is why it's important to report any artifacts discovered, which we always aspire to document in situ in order to maximize the archaeological information. The archaeological finds reported at the site teach us that the place served as a natural temporary spot for ships to anchor.
"Identification of the artifacts found there demonstrates that the spot was in use as early as the Late Bronze Age, 4,000 years ago, and now the discovery of the sword shows that it was also in use during the Crusader Period 900 years ago," Sharvit added.
IAA Director-General Eli Escosido praised Katzin for his responsibility in reporting the find, saying, "Any ancient artifact exposed helps us assemble the historic puzzle of the Land of Israel. After the sword is cleaned and researched in the IAA labs, we will display it for the general public."
