In the past few months, Israeli archaeologist have carried undersea excavations in the Mediterranean. Ynet reports on their recent discoveries:

The Israel Antiquities Authority said in the underwater dig off the Caesarean coast they found hundreds of silver coins from the 13th to 16th centuries, along with silver and bronze coins from the Roman period. The affluent central Israeli town inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesarea Maritima, which was built by Herod the Great roughly between 25 and 13 BCE as a major port.

The findings also include a bronze figurine that looks like an eagle, which was the symbol of the Romans, a pantomime mask from the Roman theater, and bronze bells that were used to scare away evil spirits. These items were most likely on [two] ships that sunk some 1,700 years and 600 years ago, [respectively].

The wrecked ships also had rare personal items of people who were on them but did not survive. Among other things, a red gemstone was uncovered, designed to be set on a ring, and on the top side of it, a musical instrument was carved, known as the harp of David in the Jewish tradition. Another artifact that was found was a thick gold ring, shaped in an octagonal form, with a green gemstone, on which a young boy, a shepherd, dressed in a tunic, with a deer or sheep on his shoulders is carved. This image, of the Good Shepherd, is known in ancient Christian art as a symbol of salvation.

Early Friday morning, Israel attacked military installations near the Iranian cities of Isfahan and nearby Natanz, the latter being one of the hubs of the country’s nuclear program. Jerusalem is not taking credit for the attack, and none of the details are too certain, but it seems that the attack involved multiple drones, likely launched from within Iran, as well as one or more missiles fired from Syrian or Iraqi airspace. Strikes on Syrian radar systems shortly beforehand probably helped make the attack possible, and there were reportedly strikes on Iraq as well.

Iran itself is downplaying the attack, but the S-300 air-defense batteries in Isfahan appear to have been destroyed or damaged. This is a sophisticated Russian-made system positioned to protect the Natanz nuclear installation. In other words, Israel has demonstrated that Iran’s best technology can’t protect the country’s skies from the IDF. As Yossi Kuperwasser puts it, the attack, combined with the response to the assault on April 13,

clarified to the Iranians that whereas we [Israelis] are not as vulnerable as they thought, they are more vulnerable than they thought. They have difficulty hitting us, but we have no difficulty hitting them.

Nobody knows exactly how the operation was carried out. . . . It is good that a question mark hovers over . . . what exactly Israel did. Let’s keep them wondering. It is good for deniability and good for keeping the enemy uncertain.

The fact that we chose targets that were in the vicinity of a major nuclear facility but were linked to the Iranian missile and air forces was a good message. It communicated that we can reach other targets as well but, as we don’t want escalation, we chose targets nearby that were involved in the attack against Israel. I think it sends the message that if we want to, we can send a stronger message. Israel is not seeking escalation at the moment.