Storm Uncovers 1,800-year-old Shipwreck Carrying Rare Precious Cargo

An enormous cargo of rare marble artifacts has been uncovered at the site of a 1,800-year-old shipwreck in shallow waters off the coast of Israel.

The huge haul includes approximately 44 tons of Roman-period marble architectural pieces, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said in a statement. This is the oldest cargo of its kind yet discovered in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, according to the authority.

The marble blocks may have been intended to become part of an elaborate public building—perhaps a temple or theater.

The merchant ship was probably destined for a port along the coast of the southern Levant, but ran into trouble en route, Koby Sharvit, director of the underwater archaeology unit at the IAA, said in the statement.

While there appear to be no visible remains of the ship itself at the site, the cargo provides clues about what happened to the vessel.

The way that the cargo is spread out and positioned, as well as the angle that the pieces are resting on the seabed, indicate that the vessel likely became wrecked in a storm, Sharvit said.

“Such storms often blow up suddenly along the country’s coast and due to the ships’ limited maneuvering potential, they are often dragged into the shallow waters and shipwrecked,” Sharvit said in the statement.

The rare cargo was only uncovered thanks to more recent storms in the area that stirred up the sand in the shallow waters, revealing the treasure below.

Experienced sea swimmer Gideon Harris was the first to spot the cargo around 650 feet from the coast of Beit Yanai—a coastal town in central Israel. Harris was swimming just a few feet below the surface when he spotted some ancient columns. He later reported what he saw to the IAA.

“We have been aware of the existence of this shipwrecked cargo for a long time but we didn’t know its exact whereabouts as it was covered over by sand, and we could therefore not investigate it,” Sharvit said.

“The recent storms must have exposed the cargo, and thanks to Gideon’s important report, we have been able to register its location, and carry out preliminary archaeological investigations, which will lead to a more in-depth research project.”

Preliminary investigations of the cargo have identified the remains of ancient columns—with pieces measuring up to around 20 feet in length—as well as other architectural elements.

Judging by the size of the marble pieces, researchers have been able to determine the potential carrying capacity of the wrecked vessel.

“From the size of the architectural elements, we can calculate the dimensions of the ship—we are talking about a merchant ship that could bear a cargo of at least 200 tons,” Sharvit said.

The marble cargo was discovered close to the site of the once affluent ancient Roman city of Caesarea, also located on Israel’s central coastline.

The stone most likely originated from the region of modern-day Turkey or Greece but confirmation of this will have to wait until the results of lab tests conducted on samples from the cargo are completed, Sharvit told The Times of Israel. The cargo was likely destined for one of the ports in the southern Levant—perhaps Ashkelon in modern Israel, Gaza or possibly even Alexandria in Egypt.

The fact that the architectural elements are made of real marble adds significance to the discovery.

“These fine pieces are characteristic of large-scale, majestic public buildings,” Sharvit said. “Even in Roman Caesarea, such architectural elements were made of local stone covered with white plaster to appear like marble. Here we are talking about genuine marble.”

The latest discovery has shed light on a question that archaeologists have long debated regarding the use of marble in construction in this period.

“Land and sea archaeologists have long argued whether the Roman period imported architectural elements were completely worked in their lands of origin, or whether they were transported in a partially carved form, and were carved and fashioned at their site of destination,” Sharvit said.

“The find of this cargo resolves the debated issue, as it is evident that the architectural elements left the quarry site as basic raw material or partially worked artifacts and that they were fashioned and finished on the construction site, either by local artists and artisans or by artists who were brought to the site from other countries, similarly to specialist mosaic artists who traveled from site to site following commissioned projects.”

The IAA plans to conduct further investigations of the site in the coming weeks in the hopes of finding wooden remains of the ship below the marble or surrounding sand, Sharvit told the Times.

In many cases, much of the wood from similar ancient shipwrecks ended up washing ashore and was often collected by locals, meaning little may remain, according to Sharvit.

“Everything was recycled in the ancient world,” he said.

Newsweek has asked the IAA for further comment by email.