Italian Coins Discovered In Crusader-Era Ship Wreck Off Israeli Coast
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Naomi Zeveloff March 21, 2017
Thirty gold coins were found amid the remains of a Crusader-era shipwreck discovered off the coast of Acre in northern Israel last week.
The coins are “florins” from Florentine, Italy, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The coins likely sank with the ship, which was one of several vessels to try to flee Acre when Mamluk sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil invaded in 1291 to drive out the Crusaders, according to Haaretz.
Europeans who tried to leave Acre at the time bribed boat owners in order to escape. Archaeologists also found ceramic jugs and bowls from southern Italy, Cyprus and Syria in the ship wreck.
But the boat apparently didn’t make it far, wrecking in the bay of Acre.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected]
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
