Christmas in Israel: Diving Apollonia 1

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Photos:  (photo 1) stone anchor, single hole;  (photo 2) amphora rim & handle;  (photo 3)  stone anchor, three holes;  (photo 4)  amphora rim;  (photo 5 & 6) columns;  (photo 7) a three-holed stone anchor with wooden shanks, from the Haifa Maritime Museum.

For video footage of this dive, see BOT.

A train of seasonal storms cross the eastern Mediterranean in winter, and the near shore sands at Apollonia redistribute, revealing reef rock in patches.  The quantity of the sand transported is remarkable.  Eva has determined that the depth of sand redistributed can be up to +/- 1 meter per day.  This was demonstrated dramatically in the past week.  I was in the water diving on the 22nd, shortly after arriving in Herzylia.  At that time, a large and archaeologically significant area of reef was exposed.  A large storm arrived and passed, burying this area in a thick blanket of sand, perhaps 2-3 meters in depth!  Another smaller patch opened, and it was there that the video available on BOT was captured over the past two days.

Photos 1 & 3 are of ancient stone anchors.  We mapped dozens of them in the harbor of Apollonia in the early '90s.  They are, essentially, a rock with a hole bored through it, though they vary widely in size, form, and craft.  Ancient maritimers inserted shanks of wood through the bottom pair of holes in the three-holed anchor for snagging the bottom. Note the example in photo 7 from the Haifa Maritime Museum, and the video footage from the harbor at anchors.

Photos 2 & 4 shown the rims & handles of Roman-Byzantine amphorae jars.  The rims and handles are the strongest section of the pots, and thus are often found as a intact units.  These storage jars were used to export wine, olive oil and grain, and are clear evidence of shipping.  Note the video footage from Apollonia at amphorae.

Photos 4 & 5 are columns.  The second column is one of several fragments located at what Eva has interpreted as the entrance to the anchorage.  These are large columns, perhaps 24 in/60 cm in diameter.  Note the video clips at column1 column2.