A security officer of the Megilot Regional Council in southern Israel recently discovered an anchor belonging to a sailboat from the 1920s.
The 100-year-old anchor was discovered on the northern part of the land exposed by the receding Dead Sea, a phenomena that doesn't seem to be slowing down and has created many problems such as dangerous sinkholes.
Up until the 1960s, the only means of transportation around the Dead Sea was maritime transport, as highway 90, stretching all the way from Metula to Eilat, along the western bank of the Dead Sea, didn't yet exist. Therefore, it wasn't uncommon for ships to cross the sea from its northern part to its southern part, while using a wooden pier near one of the factories for docking.
It was near that wooden pier, which is mostly preserved to this day, that Dror Sinai, security officer of the Megilot Regional Council, found the admiralty anchors. He discovered three anchors in one location; two large ones and a medium-sized one, possibly belonging to the same ship.
The anchors that were found are made of iron and are believed to have been made in the 1920s. The medium-sized anchors are 1 meter in length and weigh 70 kilograms, while the larger one is 2 meters long, weighing a total of 110 kilograms.
Following the discovery, the Megilot Regional Council stated that although there was previous evidence that pointed at ships sailing the Dead Sea before highway 90 existed, finding 100-year-old anchors is an exiting discovery that reinforces the knowledge we have regarding the regional importance that the Dead Sea held in the past.
