Finds like this are often primarily a matter of luck. In this case it was the luck of the right moment: just as Shlomi Katzin was diving near the city of Caesarea off the Israeli Mediterranean coast last Thursday, waves caused the sand to stir up on the bottom. And there, four meters below the surface of the water, made an old sword visible. It is completely overgrown with mussels, but otherwise in excellent condition. Experts assume that it comes from the time of the Crusaders, so it could be around 900 years old. In 1095 Pope Urban II called for an "armed pilgrimage" for the first time. From then on, Europeans tried for about two centuries to bring the "Holy Land" under their control, ultimately unsuccessfully.
Around the site - the Israeli antiquities authorities keep the exact geographical position secret in order not to attract thieves - Katzin discovered and photographed other artifacts. Some of them are much older than the sword, reported the Haaretz newspaper: Anchors from Roman times and a stone anchor that is probably several thousand years old. There is an old natural harbor at the site of the discovery, and ships have been looking for protection from stormy weather since the Bronze Age.
And yet it is the comparatively young sword that inspires the imagination. The amateur diver Katzin only asked for a photo with the one meter long weapon as a reward. To whom may it once belonged, and how did it get there - about 200 meters from the coast? Due to the condition of the encrusted sword, little can be said about it at the moment. Both Christian crusaders from Europe and Arab soldiers fought with swords, the shape of which is similar to that of the find. Kobi Sharvit, the head of the Department of Marine Archeology at the Antiquities Authority, points out that the Arab warriors did not come by ship. He rules out that the sword fell into the water on the coast and then driven further into the sea: the weapon, which weighs almost two kilograms, is too heavy for that.