Diver Discovers 900-Year-Old Sword Dating to the Crusades

The New York Times ^ | 18 Oct 2021 | Eduardo Medina

[Theoria]

The sword, recovered off the coast of Israel, most likely belonged to a knight who fell into the sea or lost the weapon in battle, experts said.

Shlomi Katzin attached a GoPro camera to his forehead, slipped on his diving fins and jumped into the waters off the Carmel coast of Israel, eager to go exploring.

On the sandy floor of the Mediterranean Sea, he found a sword. Archaeologists would later determine that it was about 900 years old. It weighed four pounds, measured about four feet long and originated from the Third Crusade, experts said.

“Oh yes, he was surprised and happy,” said Jacob Sharvit, the director of the marine archaeology unit at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Mr. Katzin said he would give the sword to Mr. Sharvit’s agency, but he wanted just one thing: a photo with the shell-encrusted weapon.

The recent discovery was welcomed in a country that takes immense pride in its history and has a law requiring that any artifacts found must be returned to the nation.

The sword was among several artifacts discovered by Mr. Katzin, who declined to be interviewed because he said he did not want the discovery to be about him. He also found stone anchors and pottery fragments that date back hundreds of years. But nothing was more impressive than the sword, which Mr. Sharvit described as “extremely rare.”

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Tennessee Nana.

[Red Badger]

Okay, so now he’s the real King of England, right?.....................

[Tallguy]

I think they were using Titanium during the 3rd Crusade?

[SunkenCiv]

Strange divers, swimmin' in seas, discoverin' swords, is no basis for a system of government...

[minnesota_bound]

Why is he wearing a mask? The sword has barnacles already!

[SunkenCiv]

• ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVER 13,000-YEAR-OLD BREWERY IN THE CARMEL [09/14/2018]
• Ship from 8th Century Found in Mediterranean (off Dor Beach in a shallow lagoon) [01/23/2007]
• From the Seabed, Figures of an Ancient Cult [Phoenician] [09/06/2020]

[SunkenCiv]

Nice vid, looks like other wreckage from other vessels of different eras nearby.

[Texas Fossil]

Very interesting find. Would love to see the sword without the crust on it.

That is an amazing part of the world. So much important history.

[SunkenCiv]

I quite agree, and this isn't even from deep water, there must be loads of stuff down below the anoxia layer.

[Texas Fossil]

below the anoxia layer?

Yes and it is often well preserved.

[Ban Draoi Marbh Draoi]

The best warriors could could wield their sword with either hand.

A knight that could do that would be scary as hell.

[SunkenCiv]

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[AnotherUnixGeek]

That only weighs 4 pounds? Maybe most of the metal has corroded away and it’s more barnacle than metal at this point?

[Theoria]

Probably only barnacles. The fact that it looks mostly intact via size is surprising. Another article said it was found about 150m off the coast of the island and around 15ft feet deep. Really cool.

[Oatka]

Still at approx 4 pounds it would take a real man to continue to swing it effectively if a battle lasted more than a few hours.

The Romans got around that by replacing their front rank every 10 minutes or so, on command, by the next rank behind them. Those people had their act together. They always had a fresh guy facing a tired enemy.

A Hollywood version

(IIRC, their short swords weighed about two pounds. To get an idea of the effort, try swinging an electric iron around for 10 minutes - more exciting if you have an opponent trying to kill you.)

[1Old Pro]

it would take a real man to continue to swing it effectively if a battle lasted more than a few hours.

If you want to try an endurance experiment, put on some boxing gloves and shadow punch. Your arms tire quickly.

[rdl6989]

That thing is huge, it must be very heavy and hard to swing at somebody.

[Jane Long]

:-) thought the same.

[SunkenCiv]

The length means, once it’s swung, the receiving party goes down. :^)

[Jacob Kell]

The Fourth Crusade was the one where Constantinople got sacked, not the Third.