A few weeks ago, Gideon Harris dived into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel. 13 feet below the surface, he discovered marble columns that were 1,800 years old.

The Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement last week that the Roman-era artifacts that perished with the merchant ship carrying them have been discovered. Despite the agency's knowledge of the shipwreck's existence, its location was previously a mystery.

According to Koby Sharvit, head of the IAA's underwater archaeological team, "recent storms must have exposed the cargo, and thanks to Gideon's vital report, we have been able to register its location.

The rich hoard may have been headed to a port in Ashkelon, Gaza, or Alexandria when it was discovered, according to Sharvit, who believes that it most likely originated in a location adjacent to Greece or Turkey. When the ship was engulfed in a storm, the crew probably let go of the anchor to keep it from grounding on the shoals.

Among the artifacts are partially carved capitals, which are the decorative caps of columns. Some people are huge and heavy, while others are tiny.

It's possible, perhaps even likely, that we have duplicate cargo: one ship carrying goods for two separate constructions or destinations, Sharvit told Haaretz's Ruth Schuster.

The carving on the little capitals hints that they might have been for a more compact structure. Major cities still need a lot of development. The shape is there even though it hasn't been finalized.

The discovery is remarkable in large part because of the material. Sharvit claims that the objects were presumably intended for a "large-scale, majestic public structure" because they are made of marble.

According to Sharvit in the statement, such architectural elements were created from local stone and plastered in white plaster to mimic marble "even in Roman Caesarea," a nearby ancient port city. Here, we're talking about actual marble.

Additionally, he asserts that the discovery provides an answer to the question of whether architectural components like columns were completed at their final places or at their original locations. This revelation makes clear the latter because numerous columns were lacking.

Roman rule over the region was formally established when Pompey the Great seized and overthrew the king of Judea in 63 BCE. Experts assigned the recently discovered columns a date around the middle of the second century C.E.

Scientists have long been interested in Israel's Mediterranean Sea shoreline. For instance, in the waters of Caesarea National Park, some 35 miles north of Tel Aviv, divers unintentionally discovered a 1,600-year-old shipwreck crammed with bronze artifacts in 2016. This summer, a 2,000-year-old Roman coin with zodiac signs was found in the waters near Haifa.

In collaboration with students from the University of Rhode Island, the IAA will soon begin an excavation of the site, according to Sharvit, writes Amanda Borschel-Dan for the Times of Israel. He anticipates finding more ancient objects, such as coins. It would be considerably more fascinating to find the boat's actual wreckage, which researchers have not yet discovered.

Harris, who alerted the IAA to the discovery, received a certificate of appreciation for his civic virtue.