JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—According to a Live Science report, X-rays of a sword recovered from the floor of the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel have revealed that its three-foot long, two-inch wide blade is bent. Called the Newe-Yam sword, the weapon has been dated to the twelfth or thirteenth century, and is thought to have been lost by a knight in a naval battle during the series of religious wars known as the Crusades. “So far, seven swords from this period have been found in the country, most of them discovered in the sea,” said Jacob Sharvit of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “Swords were not usually discarded, but over the years, once they were no longer in use, the metal was recycled for other uses,” he added. Loss of his weapon may have led to the knight’s death, Sharvit and his colleagues concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in 'Atiqot. For more, go to "Reimagining the Crusades."
