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King Herod's Harbor Becomes World's First Public Underwater Seaport Exhibit

Corinne Heller/TN : Jun 11, 2006
Reuters

Although Israeli and North American archeologists discovered the ruins of Caesarea about 40 years ago, it has just been in the last few years that experts have created the world's first public underwater sea port exhibit.

A report in Reuter's states that metal poles with numbered signs mark 36 exhibits lying about 20 feet below the Mediterranean's surface over an area of 783,000 square feet. It also lists some of the artifacts that can be viewed with the aid of scuba diving instructors: the remains of a sunken Roman vessel, giant anchors, loading piers, marble and granite columns and an ancient breakwater. Snorkelers can reportedly view remnants found in more shallow waters.

Reporter Corinne Heller notes that the Romans conquered Caesarea in 63 BC, and that it was King Herod who named the port city in 22 BC, to honor his patron Caesar Augustus. Eventually, Caesarea became the Roman provincial capital of Judea.

Herods Harbor Archeologists were surprised to discover that the harbor was built in only 12 years, said Sarah Arenson, a maritime historian involved in the project. "Even today, building a harbor this size would (take) about the same time," she said. "To think (Herod) did it with his technology in that time; it probably required many thousands of people working in coordination."

According to the report, a minor wall was constructed around the main breakwater to protect it during construction -- a tactic Herod used in the building of Jerusalem's Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Caesarea's current location beneath the sea is due to perhaps tidal waves, or what many experts believe is the erosion of its foundations by earthquakes in a region that lies on a major fault-line.