Off Israel’s northern shore, a shipwreck dating back more than 3,000 years that still had its goods intact was discovered, the antiquities department of the nation announced on Thursday.
The London-listed energy company Energean, which operates off the coast of Israel, found the ship and its artifacts more than a mile deep on the Mediterranean Sea floor.
Hundreds of amphorae, double-handled jugs used in the Bronze Age to keep things at sea like wine or olive oil, were discovered among the ship’s cargo during an investigation conducted by the firm.
“The ship seems to have sunk in crisis, either due to a storm or to an attempted piracy attack — a well-known occurrence in the Late Bronze Age,” Jacob Sharvit, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s marine unit, said in a statement.
“When we sent them (the antiquities authority) the images it turned out to be a sensational discovery, far beyond what we could imagine,” he said.
Sharvit said the location of the find, far out at sea, revealed ancient mariners were able to navigate without a line of sight to any coast, likely using the positions of stars and the sun.
“This is a world-class history-changing discovery,” he said.
Energean conducted an operation to extract some of the storage vessels, which will be presented to the public soon, the authority said.
