Report by Shreya Agarwal
A team of archaeologists from Israel has found two shipwrecks (destructed ships) around the Mediterranean coast near Israel during the underwater survey conducted by the Marine Archaeology Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The site is near Caesarea, an ancient city.
These ships are 1700 and 600 years old, which suggests they are from the Roman and Mamluk
periods. The Roman ship is believed to be from Italy, based on the artefacts found.
A lot of Roman silver and bronze coins from the mid-third century (Roman period) and around 560 silver coins from the Middle Ages (Mamluk period) have been found. Artifacts like figurines, bells, ceramics, and metal artifacts like nails, and a shattered iron anchor (a device made of iron, attached to the ship, which keeps it in a particular place) have been discovered as well.
Among the important things found, there’s a rare gold ring, with an embedded gemstone, on which there’s a carving of the ‘Good Shepherd’. The ‘Good Shepherd’ is one of the earliest representations of Jesus Christ. It shows a shepherd carrying a sheep on his back. A red gemstone that had a lyre (a stringed U-shaped instrument, used mainly by ancient Greeks) engraved on it, was also found underwater.
