{"id":44732,"date":"2026-04-08T11:58:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T11:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=44732"},"modified":"2026-04-08T11:58:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T11:58:05","slug":"student-accidentally-finds-extremely-rare-crusader-era-sword-after-chasing-off-suspected-thieves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=44732","title":{"rendered":"Student &#8216;accidentally&#8217; finds &#8216;extremely rare&#8217; Crusader-era sword after chasing off suspected thieves"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft wp-block-nypost-editor-partner-article-links\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>A student in Israel recently made a chance discovery tied to one of history\u2019s most violent eras: the Crusades.<\/p>\n<p>The University of Haifa recently said in a release that one of its students \u201caccidentally\u201d discovered a\u00a0Crusader-era sword\u00a0off the coast of Dor, an ancient port in northern Israel.<\/p>\n<p>The sword, which dates to the 12th century, measures over three feet long.<\/p>\n<p>University of Haifa student Shlomi Katzin was swimming near Dor when he \u201cnoticed a group of divers with metal detectors,\u201d per the translated release.<\/p>\n<p>Katzin, who studies\u00a0maritime civilizations, suspected the group was antiquities thieves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShlomi managed to drive them away from the area, and later during his swim, he spotted the sword protruding from the seabed and acted quickly,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe informed Prof. Debbie Cvikel from the Department of Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa, who contacted the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once the IAA approved the sword\u2019s removal, it was sent to Elisha Medical Center for a CT scan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Pictures of the artifact show it was heavily encrusted with shells over the centuries, though it still retains the unmistakable shape of a sword.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The University of Haifa recently said in a release that one of its students \u201caccidentally\u201d discovered a\u00a0Crusader-era sword\u00a0off the coast of Dor, an ancient port in northern Israel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Debbie Cvikel, a professor at the University of Haifa, called the artifact an \u201cextremely rare find that sheds light on the Crusader presence along the country\u2019s coastline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She added, \u201cOnly a handful of similar swords from the\u00a0Crusader period\u00a0are known in the Land of Israel, and this discovery greatly contributes to our understanding of the use of maritime anchorages and the lives of warriors during this time,\u201d according to the release.<\/p>\n<p>Eyal Berkowitz, imaging sciences expert at the University of Haifa, noted that his team\u2019s imaging techniques were non-invasive and kept the artifact intact.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Shlomi Katzin holds the sword, which dates to the 12th century, and measures over three feet long. <span class=\"credit\">Nir Disteleld \/ Israel Antiquities Authority<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cUsing CT, we were able to see what the human eye cannot \u2014 the internal structure of the sword and its precise physical condition \u2014 all through a\u00a0non-invasive examination\u00a0that preserved the integrity of this rare artifact for future generations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers said the sword also carried symbolic significance.<\/p>\n<p>In the release, Sarah Lantus from the Department of Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa noted that swords were symbols of \u201cknights and chivalry, as well as of the\u00a0Christian faith.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Katzin was swimming near Dor when he \u201cnoticed a group of divers with metal detectors,\u201d per the translated release. <span class=\"credit\">Shlomi Katzin \/ Israel Antiquities Authority<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cShlomi managed to drive them away from the area, and later during his swim, he spotted the sword protruding from the seabed and acted quickly,\u201d the release said. <span class=\"credit\">Shlomi Katzin \/ Israel Antiquities Authority<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt was also one of the most common weapons used by Crusader knights, and their lives depended on them,\u201d said Lantus.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSwords were valuable objects \u2014 and therefore were carefully maintained and preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Crusades were a series of wars between Christian and Muslim forces between the 11th and 13th centuries.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Debbie Cvikel, a professor at the University of Haifa, called the artifact an \u201cextremely rare find that sheds light on the Crusader presence along the country\u2019s coastline.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">Shlomi Katzin \/ Israel Antiquities Authority<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>They began when Pope Urban II called to reclaim the Holy Land in 1095, with the First Crusade resulting in the siege of Jerusalem in 1099.<\/p>\n<p>The discovery is the latest in a string of\u00a0notable archaeological finds\u00a0in the region.<\/p>\n<p>In March, archaeologists announced that they had found a\u00a02,100-year-old sling bullet\u00a0with a sarcastic message aimed at enemy forces.<\/p>\n<p>Also, last month, officials announced the discovery of a\u00a0mysterious Christian artifact\u00a0near the Sea of Galilee, not far from Jesus\u2019 ministry.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/07\/science\/student-accidentally-finds-extremely-rare-crusader-era-sword-after-chasing-off-suspected-thieves\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A student in Israel recently made a chance discovery tied to one of history\u2019s most violent eras: the Crusades. The University of Haifa recently said in&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}