CAESAREA, ISRAEL—At the site of the ancient Roman harbor of Caesarea, scuba divers have discovered the largest hoard of gold coins ever found in Israel, reports the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). Soon after they found the first coins, which were exposed by winter storms, the divers reported their discovery to authorities. Archaeologists from the IAA then explored the site, where they uncovered almost 2,000 coins dating from the second half of the ninth to the eleventh century A.D., the period of the Fatimid Caliphate. Marine archaeologist Kobi Sharvit of the IAA will lead future excavations on the seafloor near the findspot of the hoard in the hopes of possibly finding the ship that may have been carrying the coins, and that may have sunk to the bottom of the Mediterranean almost a thousand years ago. To read about one of the largest coin hoards ever found in England—one of last year’s Top 10 Discoveries, go to “The Seaton Down Hoard.”
