Diver pulls 900-year-old crusader sword from bottom of Mediterranean Sea

General Chat In The News
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A 900-year-old sword believed to have belonged to a crusader who sailed to the Holy Land has been found at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel.

The barnacle-covered metre-long blade was discovered by amateur scuba diver Shlomi Katzin on the seabed along the Carmel coast, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said.

Nir Distelfeld, inspector for the IAA’s Robbery Prevention Unit, said: “The sword, which has been preserved in perfect condition, is a beautiful and rare find and evidently belonged to a crusader knight.

  • What an amazing find! I would love to see that once it had been restored :+1:
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That is brilliant, it will be really good to see it restored, a real bit of history. That gets the imagination going

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amazing, what a lucky fella

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I know! After 900 years of lying in the sea…I imagine the marine crustaceans would have helped protect it from damage.

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I bet that could tell some stories … Die in the name of God you heathen! :crossed_swords:

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Thanks for starting this … I was going to but my unmuted categories are inappropriate … :slightly_smiling_face:

I encountered the news on the BBC website:

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I assume that the experts will X-ray the sword first - underneath the encrustation, the weapon may be too fragile to reveal … :worried:

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Yes I was wondering how they would check the condition of it before attempting to remove the seastuff. Its not like you could take a hammer and chisel to it :astonished: I wish there was a way to follow this story to see what happens - tv documentary? That would be interesting!

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Seems awful the little creatures will have to perish in some nitric acid solution or vinegar.

Probably a ‘spare sword’ or belonged to the ‘idiot who’s always losing his sword’ man

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It’s probable but where and when - who knows?

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Interesting news @PixieKnuckles, what an amazing find after all those years!

I imagine the diver was overcome with excitement. :grinning:

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I know, Mags…I’m wondering what else could be down there too…I bet there’ll be a few divers who are heading that way now! :smiley:

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We’ll have to sort out our cossies, Pixie just in case they ask for volunteers! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Oh my bags are packed, goggles and snorkel ready, and cozzie is on, Mags…I’m emailing an enquiry as we speak :joy: Citing “Fantastic observational skills in challenging situations”

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I’ll blow up the rubber dinghy and we’ll be ready to go! :+1::grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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It’s rather lovely as it is, isn’t it? Reminds me of that scene from Pirates of the Caribbean

They’ll X-ray it and see what it’s like underneath, I expect.

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I’ve been looking for that damn thing everywhere!!! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Methinks he died before he got to the Holy Land or he just dropped it into the ocean by accident - a ‘look Captain, no hands’ kinda scenario :thinking:

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Fascinating

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What an amazing find. That diver must have been overwhelmed when he realised just what he’d discovered. Yes, I too would love to know the story of this discovery as it unfolds. I hope there will be more info released over time.

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I do wonder what went through his mind though as he dug around the sand and his hand fell on this. Did he really think causally “Oh, looks like sword…that’s cool” and then afterwards go and check up, or did he immediately think “OHMYGOD I’ve just found a crusader sword that must be hundreds of years old” and the bubbles of excitement coming from his mask made everyone alarmed… I need to know the details :joy:

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