An underwater museum is open for visitors off the coast of Israel in the ancient town of Caesarea. The Port of Caesarea was commissioned by Herod the Great, King of Judaea, and the harbor quickly became the main political and economic artery of the Roman Empire. Recent archaeological work that started in the 1950s brought the partially sunken port back to life, along with Caesarea’s above-ground wonders.

Today the land level and underwater archaeological treasures are open to visitors. Over the years, archaeologists have drawn four main diving paths, showcasing the best archaeological material discovered, from ancient anchors to shipwrecks and stones showing the wonders of Roman engineering and the techniques used to create the old harbor wall.

“We cover practically all of the points that you can see on this map. All along the harbor walls, uh…each point is the point of interest. For example, some of the points relate to the engineering aspect of the wall. You can see the different ways the engineers, the different techniques the engineers used to create this huge harbor wall. Some of them relate to cargo that ancient ships brought, and for some reason they sank.”

The desire to capture the secrets and principles of Roman harbor installations and compare them to those of the Greeks and Phoenicians inspired Professor Avner Raban and his team to start underwater excavations in Caesarea in 1975.

“After he died, I think it was my duty as a resident of this area and as a colleague, of Professor Raban to make his lifework known to the public whatever, I think this is….it’s the only underwater archaeological park in the world. In Professor Raban's time, we marked about between 20 and 30 points of interest and we've got professional divers to mark them with poles, with metal poles. We attached numbers to the poles and there was also a rope leading from one pole to the next. So if the visibility is not perfect, the divers can direct themselves with the rope from one point of interest to the next.”

Theories abound as to why Herod Caesarea port sank. Some theories suggest an earthquake may have been the cause, while others suggest it was simply due to the passage of time. Arenson indicates she thinks the port collapsed under its own heavy weight as the planners built such huge structures on frail sandy ground.