Authorities had been aware of the trove of artifacts, but the diver's sighting provided an exact location, allowing researchers to carry out an investigation.
A man diving off the coast of Israel discovered an "enormous, rare cargo" of centuries-old marble artifacts underwater, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday. The artifacts are 1,800 years old, the agency said in a Facebook post, making it "the oldest sea cargo of its kind known in the Eastern Mediterranean." The artifacts are architectural pieces, including multiple decorated Corinthian column heads and a "huge" marble architrave, the decorative molding meant to go around a door. The architrave measured up to six meters, or nearly 20 feet. The swimmer, Gideon Harris, was swimming at the Beit Yanai beach, a popular spot for swimmers, surfers and divers about 24 miles from Tel Aviv. Harris contacted the Israel Antiquities Authority, it said. One of the decorated Corinthian column heads found by Gideon Harris. Israel Antiquities Authority It turned out that the authority had "been aware of the existence of this shipwrecked cargo for some time," according to Koby Sharvit, director of the underwater archaeology unit at the agency. However, the authority did not know where exactly the cargo was located, so Harris' sighting was "gratefully received." "We didn't know (the…