Israeli scuba divers find rare artifact

Rare artifact

Israel · 22 July 2008 · Source: Israel National News

A diver has unearthed a rare marble discus that was used 2,500 years ago to protect sea-going vessels from the evil eye.

To date, only four such items have been found in the world – two of them here in Israel, one recovered from the Mediterranean Sea off the coast at Carmel in addition to the one at Yavne-Yam.

The ancient white marble discus, which dates back to 400-500 BCE, was discovered by David Shalom, who handed it over to the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The white discus, which is flat on one side and convex on the other, measures 20 centimeters in diameter. In the middle of the discus are a perforation and the remains of two circles that are painted around the center of it. This object has been identified as representing the pupil of an eye that adorned the bow of an ancient warship or cargo ship. Its Greek name is ophtalmoi and a lead coupling or bronze nail that was driven through the hole in the center of the discus was used to attach the object to the hull of the ship.

According to Kobi Sharvit, the director of the Marine Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “We know from drawings on pottery vessels, pithoi and ancient coins, as well as from historic sources of the fifth century BCE that this model was very common on the bows of ships and was used to protect them from the evil eye and envy, and was meant as a navigation aid and to act as a pair of eyes which looked ahead and warned of danger. This decoration is also prevalent today on modern boats in Portugal, Malta, Greece and in the Far East."

During the course of archaeological surveys that have been performed there by the Marine Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority since the 1980’s, artifacts were found that originated in shipwrecks, including anchors of various sizes and weights with one to three holes in them, fishing equipment, lead connectors and stone plumbs that belong to stone anchors.

Other objects that were found which were used on board boats include an oven for cooking that is made of lead, grindstones, stone bowls, fishing gear (bronze hooks, lead weights for fishing nets and lead plumbs for measuring the depth of the seabed), as well as storage jars, amphorae, bowls and cooking pots that date to the Late Bronze Age, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods. All of these bear witness to the extensive commercial activity that transpired there.

Most of the pottery vessels are of types that were manufactured in the Land of Israel or in the Eastern Mediterranean; however, some were imported from more distant lands along the Mediterranean Sea.

A concentration of artifacts was discovered at the site which date to the Bronze Age and include dozens of gold objects (earrings, beads, pieces of jewelry and waste from the jewelry industry) and a hematite seal of Syrian provenance. The concentration was located scattered in an area where twenty hematite seals, bronze arrowheads, axes and two small statues of the god Ba’al were found in the past. The archaeological finds indicate that the anchorage was used continuously from the Late Bronze Age until the Middle Ages.

Safety Warning

Urgent Safety Warning Please Read

Dear Customer, we recently had a problem with a blocked filter on our compressor. We have now repaired the problem and cleaned all our SCUBA tanks and all the lines and gauges from the compressor used to fill tanks. We have tested the system and it is working properly.

We are not sure when the problem occurred but it may have been as far back as July 3, 2008.

As a precaution we ask that anyone who had a personal tank filled since July 3, 2008 return the tank to the shop for inspection and cleaning. Of course, there will be no charge for the inspection or the cleaning.

We apologize for the inconvenience but your safety is always our greatest concern.

Sea Lions Dive Center

Underwater Bike Record

I think this comes under the heading of people who need to get a life????

The record for cycling underwater has been broken by Italian Vittorio Innocente who succeeded in pedalling 213ft (65m) under the Mediterranean.

By Daily Telegraph reporter
Last Updated: 3:52PM BST 24 Jul 2008

Vittorio Innocente breaking the world record for underwater cycling Photo: BARCROFT

Lowered into the sea by a team of local scuba divers, Mr Innocente mounted the bike at a depth of 92ft (28m) and rode along a 360ft (110m) long underwater slope, dodging mud pools and rocky outcrops.

Continuing his descent, Mr Innocente, 62, smashed his own previous world record of 197ft (60m) which he set three years ago.

The Milan-born Italian set the new record in the waters of Portofino's maritime marine reserve, at midday on Monday.

He took nine minutes of deep sea pedalling to reach the 213ft (65m) mark.

"It was tough because I ran into more mud than I expected," he says.

"I had to click up a gear to make pedalling easier".

The world record was verified by the judge of the World Guinness Records, Lucia Sinigagliesi, who had come from London specifically to witness the record attempt.

Mr Innocente, who undertakes these record attempts for charity, says he is on a mission to prove that mountain bikes can be ridden anywhere.

Having travelled to the wilds of Alaska and the plains of Kenya proving his point, Mr Vittorio decided seven years ago to combine his cycling with his other great passion, scuba diving.

Mr Innocente says that he first had the idea for underwater bike riding whilst leading a group of German tourists scuba diving off the island of Elba, 25 years ago.

He says that when one member of the group simply found an old bicycle on the seabed, he picked it up and began to ride it.

Following this world record, it is clear that Mr Innocente dominates the world of underwater cycling.

In 2001 he also set the speed record for underwater cycling when he pedalled 1,200m in a swimming pool at an average speed of 87 cm/second.

PADI Recalls a Nitrox Table

North Carolina July 2008

Sea Lions Dive Center visited the Graveyard of the Atlantic off North Carolina. For all the pictures click here.

Key Largo May 2008

To View all Key Largo pictures click here.

Join Us Thanksgiving weekend when we return to Key Largo
$550 for diving and hotel. Car pool with our van or arrange your own flight.




Instructors Joanna Pietrzyk and Andy Kluzik lead the Sea Lions Dive Center trip to the Florida Keys over the Memorial Day weekend. The group – ten in all – left the dive center at 6 PM Wednesday evening and drove through to the Keys in the Sea Lions van.

The group dove the Spiegel Grove, the 510 long Landing Ship Dock (LSD) which sits in 130 feet of water. The dive is large and can be penetrated with the proper training and experience. The wreck is large and even without penetration takes multiple dives to explore. Afrter the deep dive the group dove French Reef, Recal Reef and Pelican reef with its plentiful life including Elkhorn Coral, Brain Coral ad lots of colorful fish.

The second day they did four dives including a dive on the wreck of the Duane, a reef, the Spiegel Grove and a night dive on the Benwood which sunk when it collided with a tanked in 1942. Joanna reported seeing a huge sleeping parrot fish, a first for her.

They completed their diving on the Bibb

Sea Lions Dive Center will be returning to the Florida Keys in November so make your plans now. Our next trip is to the Graveyard of the Atlantic on Morehead City North Carolina to dive the U352 and the other wrecks. The water is Caribbean warm and clear with the same colorful aquatic life.

Report provided by Gerard Scheffler.

B26 Wreckage Found

B26 Wreckage Found by SCUBA Divers in Gulf of Mexico west of Naples, FL.

Florida Aquarium

You can Dive with the sharks at the Florida Aquarium.

Gilboa Quarry June 2008

On June 14 and 15th, 2008 Sea Lions dive Center took a group of divers to Gilboa Quarry in Ohio.