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.â€
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.