Divers Discovered Genuine 1,600-Year-Old Sunken Treasure

Divers Ran Feinstein and Ofer Ra'anan from the Israeli city of Ra'anana recently found a massive underwater treasure trove that included bronze statues, thousands of coins, ship anchors, sailing tools and intricate figurines all hidden inside a 1,600-year-old merchant shipwreck in the ancient harbor of Caesarea, Israel, according to the Israeli Antiquities Authority.

"It took us a couple of seconds to understand what was going on," Ra'anan told the Associated Press. "It was amazing. I dive here every other weekend and I never found anything like that ever."

Said artifacts, which were preserved by sand, bear the sigils of the Roman empire which manifest that the treasures had been around for more than 30 years. IAA also added that the relics came from the time prior to Constantine's takeover of the Roman empire and his promotion of Christianity in the area. Archaeologists are stunned with the artifact's "extraordinary state of preservation."

"The location and distribution of the ancient finds on the seabed indicate that a large merchant ship was carrying a cargo of metal slated recycling, which apparently encountered a storm at the entrance to the harbor and drifted until it smashed into the seawall and the rocks," IAA director of marine archaeology Jacob Sharvit and deputy director Dror Planer said in a statement, according to Yahoo News.

The relics included a bronze lamp that showcase the image of Sol, the Sun god, a figurine of Luna the Moon goddess and a lamp that is shaped like the head of an African slave.

There are also fragments of life-sized bronze cast statues. Animal figurines like a while boar with a swan head and a whale are also part of the haul as well as coins that have the images of Roman emperors Constantine and Licinius, weighing 20 kilograms, Science Alert reported.

"A marine assemblage such as this has not been found in Israel in the past 30 years. Metal statues are rare archaeological finds because they were always melted down and recycled in antiquity," said Sharvit.

Currently, the treasures are with the IAA who will prepare the items for examination and for conservation treatments. These will be showcase to the public later on.