THE ATLIT SWORD ON THE SEABED,
PHOTOGRAPHED BY ITS DISCOVERER,
DIVER SHLOMI KATZIN
SHLOMI KATZINNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 7Crusader Clues
Even as the experts await more
data, existing evidence sup-
ports the sword’s crusader
provenance, said Jacob (Koby)
Sharvit, director of the IAA’s
Marine Archaeology Unit.
Such a sword was costly, re-
quiring funding to possess and
training to use, which makes
a knight its most likely own-
er. Some sword pommels are
made of copper alloy, which
allowed for decorative em-
bellishment. This one, how-
ever, is iron, leading Sharvit to
theorize that it belonged to a
common knight rather than a
noble one.
Sharvit believes the discov-
ery site itself also supports acrusader connection. Found
650 feet offshore at a depth of
16 feet, the sword was likely
dropped from a ship or sank in
a wreck. This spot is two miles
from Atlit Fortress, one of the
most important crusader
strongholds in the Holy Land.
What most excites Sharvit,
however, is the discovery site
itself: a 1,000-square-foot
area that has already yieldedobjects that have been dated
over a range of 4,000 years.
“This latest find means this
site was an anchorage for a
very long time,” he said. “The
whole spectrum of our history
is there, from the Late Bronze
Age to the medieval period.”
Rich with history, the spot
could hold a trove of artifacts
from many eras.
—Braden PhillipsPILGRIMS’ PORT
ATLIT, near where the medieval sword was found in
2021, is one of very few natural coves along Israel’s
Carmel coast. According to Ezra Marcus, an archae-
ologist at the University of Haifa, Atlit likely offered
a safe haven for ships during winter storms. It would
have been used as a harbor by ancient Egyptian
boats as they headed north along trade routes in
the Bronze Age. During the Fifth Crusade in the early
1200s, the Knights Templar recognized Atlit’s stra-
tegic importance and built a fortress (below) facing
Atlit harbor. Muslim forces eventually expelled the
Crusaders from the Holy Land, but the Atlit Fortress,
also known as Pilgrims’ Castle, was never breached.
Instead, its Christian defenders abandoned the site
in 1291, and the Mamluks took it over.estimate the sword weighs
about 2.5 pounds (the final
figure will be determined af-
ter the sword is cleaned).
Measuring three and a half
feet long, the sword features
a distinctive pommel that
strongly suggests European
origin. Experts often use the
characteristics of a sword’s
handle to identify its origin
(Muslim swords from the
crusader period feature a cap
rather than a pommel). Further
study may reveal this sword
was almost certainly wielded
by a European soldier from the
crusader period (a.d. 1099-
1291), who traveled to the Holy
Land in a bid to wrest it from
Muslim control.
DUBY TAL /ALBATROSS/ALAMYATLIT FORTRESS (ALSO KNOWN AS PILGRIMS’ CASTLE) WAS BUILT
BY THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR IN THE EARLY 13TH CENTURY.