Student Finds Second Crusader Sword Swimming in Israel

Shlomi Katzin has an unusual talent for finding ancient weapons at the bottom of the sea.

The University of Haifa graduate student was swimming off Israel's Mediterranean coast when he noticed divers with metal detectors near the shore. Worried they might be looting antiquities, Katzin drove them away and then spotted something extraordinary: a sword hilt jutting from the sandy seabed.

This wasn't Katzin's first rodeo. He'd found a similar Crusader sword in 2021, so he immediately recognized what he was seeing.

He contacted Deborah Cvikel, a nautical archaeologist at his university, who alerted the Israel Antiquities Authority. They gave special permission to excavate the 3-foot-long weapon for study.

The sword dates back to the 12th century, during the Crusades when European knights fought religious wars to control the Holy Land. Only a handful of similar swords from this period have been found in Israel, making the discovery exceptionally rare.

Researchers got creative with their analysis. They used a hospital CT scan to peek inside the sword without damaging the barnacles and marine buildup that had encrusted its iron core over nine centuries underwater.

The scan revealed the sea had taken its toll. The blade was fractured with only a small portion of the original iron core remaining. But it showed enough detail to determine the sword was designed for one-handed combat and likely belonged to a Frankish Crusader knight.

The Ripple Effect

This discovery helps archaeologists understand how medieval warriors moved along the Mediterranean coast during one of history's most turbulent periods. In the Middle Ages, swords were expensive and valuable, their metal carefully recycled rather than discarded. Finding two in the same area suggests their owners likely lost them during shipwrecks or battles, which would have been devastating or even fatal losses.

"The discovery and study of such a symbolic and personal object are rare, and enrich our knowledge of the material culture of the Crusader period," said researcher Sára Lantos. The sword wasn't just a weapon but a symbol of knighthood and Christian faith, making it a deeply personal item that reveals intimate details about the warriors who carried it.

Research on both swords continues, offering fresh insights into a period that shaped the history of three continents.