Diver discovers shipwreck with 1,800-year-old marble artifacts off Israel coast

1,800-year-old marble artifacts found on seabed A man diving off the coast of Israel discovered several centuries-old marble artifacts underwater.

A man diving off the coast of Israel discovered several centuries-old marble artifacts underwater, items that some are calling “the oldest sea cargo of its kind known in the eastern Mediterranean.”

According to The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the artifacts had been aboard a ship that was wrecked in shallow waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

The rare and valuable cargo included multiple decorated Corinthian column heads and a marble architrave, the decorative molding meant to go around a door.

The IAA believes the ship was capable of holding a cargo of at least 200 tons, although it’s unknown how much the vessel was carrying at the time it sank.