“The items were apparently manufactured in Syria and were brought to Israel,” Ayala Lester, a curator with the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a statement.Īrchaeologists believe that the metal objects fell overboard while on a metal merchant’s ship in the Islamic period (638-1099). Some of his other finds were the head of a knife which dated back to the Bronze Age, along with candlesticks, two mortars and two pestles dating back to the 11 th century.
Marcel’s family told them that he found most of these treasures while working at the power plant that was near the sea, he collected them for many years. Archaeologists were very surprised to find ancient artifacts that date back 3,500 years. But this wasn’t the only item that was in Mazliah’s collection. The late Marcel Mazliah, a worker at the Hadera power plant in northern Israel, found the grenade. The IAA stated that the grenades were very popular in Israel during the crusades, which took place between the 11 th to 13 th century, and they were used until the Mamluk era, between the 13 th and 16 th century. It was mostly known to be used in naval battles where the fire would easily destroy enemies’ ships and was an effective weapon. He went on to say: ‘Inside they would have put alcohol and lit a fuse poked in a hole in the top before throwing it towards the enemy ships.’ It was filled with naphtha, a flammable sticky liquid known as Greek fire, then sealed and thrown at enemies.ĭiego Barkan, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority said ‘These hand grenades were being used in the Byzantine and early Islamic period right up until the Ottomans and it is made of a heavy clay and would have been used much like a Molotov cocktail.
Nothing like the ones made today, this grenade was made from heavy clay and is beautifully embossed, it does not explode with shrapnel like the hand grenades of this generation, but it is more like a Molotov cocktail or incendiary grenade.
It was found in 2016 and is a unique find.
The family that found the old relic has handed it over to the Israeli Antiquities Authority. (Vintage News) - In Israel, a Crusades-era hand grenade was found and retrieved from the sea. Photo credit: Amir Gorzalczany, Israel Antiquities Authority
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