Diving off the Israel’s Palmaḥim beach—located about midway between Tel Aviv and Ashdod—a lifeguard recently came across an unusual artifact. Arkeonews reports:
The Israel Antiquities Authority announced via social media on July 18 that the object the lifeguard turned over was a 2,500-year-old, eye-shaped marble disc that was attached to ships to ward off the evil eye. Experts say the relic . . . dates back to the 5th or 4th centuries BCE.
Yaakov Sharvit, director of the Marine Archaeology Unit at the Israel Antiquities Authority, explains: “From drawings on pottery, mosaics, and ancient coins, as well as from historical sources from the 5th century BCE, we learn that this design was common on ships’ bows and served to protect against the evil eye and envy, aided navigation, and acted as a pair of eyes looking ahead and warning of danger. This decoration is still common today on modern ships in Portugal, Malta, Greece, and the Far East.”
The large white marble disc, twenty centimeters in diameter, is flat on one side and curved on the other, and it has a central cavity with traces of paint appearing as two circles around the center.
Read more on Arkeonews: https://arkeonews.net/a-rare-2500-year-old-marble-disc-designed-to-protect-ancient-ships-and-ward-off-the-evil-eye-discovered-near-palmachim-beach/