Free Republic

ZME Science reports that Shlomi Katzin of the University of Haifa discovered a three-foot-long Crusader-era sword encrusted with shells and sand while swimming in the Mediterranean Sea off Israel’s Dor Beach. The Israel Antiquities Authority soon granted permission to recover the object from the seabed and transfer it to the University of Haifa. A CT scan at a nearby hospital revealed that the sword’s iron blade is severely corroded, yet enough of it survives to indicate that it was likely forged in Europe and belonged to a Frankish knight. “Swords were precious objects, and therefore were carefully cared for and...

The sword was discovered in 2021 by Shlomi Katzin while conducting a study of stone and metal anchors on the seabed. The area was a natural anchorage for ships near Haifa's ancient port city that the Crusaders captured from the Arabs during the early 12th century AD.In a new study published by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the researchers describe how the sword was found covered in a thick marine concretion of sand and shells, making it difficult to separate the metal without causing damage. However, the concretion slowed down the oxidation process, preserving the sword which would have rusted...

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...