Our oceans are full of secrets and, even though they’re part of our planet, there’s so much we do not know about the deep waters of the world. That doesn’t mean we’re not interested! Of course we are! There’s something magical and mystical about ocean life – maybe because we know so little about what lurks underneath. By that, we’re not just talking about marine life, we’re referring to the spectacular ruins of ancient artifacts standing proudly on the ocean floors.
Over the years, archeologists have discovered some wonderful treasures in oceans around the world. Each underwater finding comes with its own fascinating story. But did you know that we’ve actually only explored up to 5 percent of the ocean floor? It makes us wonder how many more marvelous ancient relics could be hiding underneath the world’s waters. Maybe one day, we’ll find out.
Thanks to advancing technology, more underwater discoveries are destined to come. For now, let’s focus on the amazing things that have already been discovered and the intriguing backgrounds of these treasures. From ancient weapons dating back two millennia to Lord Krishna’s Lost City, here are 20 mysterious artifacts found at the deepest darkest corners of the ocean.
1) THE KINGDOM OF CLEOPATRA
The Kingdom of Cleopatra was lost for 1,600 years until it was discovered off the shores of Alexandria, Egypt. In 1988, marine archeologists started excavating the ancient city and they believe the whole city was submerged along with statues, columns, artifacts and all. Some of the discoveries included shipwrecks, foundations of the palace, and statues of the goddess Isis and a sphinx. Researchers also found a colossal stone head which they believe to be of Caesarion, the son of Cleopatra and lover Julius Caesar.
So far, archeologists have discovered over 20,000 sunken objects under the sea and we assume that figure will only keep growing.
2) A TRAIN GRAVEYARD
In 1985, researchers discovered a locomotive graveyard off the coast of New Jersey, United States. Researchers predict it dates back to around 1850, but there is no record of why these trains were dumped into the ocean. There’s no record that they were even built in the first place.
When historians were brought in on the investigation, they believe they could have fallen off a barge accidentally or been thrown off a ship to stop it from sinking. This train graveyard is a spectacular sight and while the trains are rusty, they are generally in good shape considering their age.
3) SEA MONSTERS – THEY’RE NO LEGEND
Advanced technology has done a lot of wonderful things for our world. Now we are able to send cameras further down into the ocean to see what’s going on down there…thanks to advanced technology. In fact, most of the discoveries archeologists have made would not have been possible without it. Although we’ve seen our fair share of strange discoveries on here, one of the weirdest has got to be the discovery of sea monsters.
These odd looking sea creatures are for real and live at the very bottom of the ocean. Just look at the blobfish and we’ll see that’s it a pretty bizarre creature living in the ocean.
4) A 2,050-YEAR-OLD ROMAN SHIPWRECK
It must be a fascinating job for these marine archaeologists making all these discoveries, some of which date back thousands of years. It can’t be the dullest job in the world anyway, let’s just say that. So we expect they were anything but unhappy to discover another Roman shipwreck off the coast of Antikythera, Greece back in 2015.
After 40 hours underwater, divers discovered interesting artifacts like ancient board games, a bronze armrest, luxury ceramics and a bone flute among other things.
5) ANCIENT NAVAL BATTLE WEAPONS
In 2013, archaeologists discovered a plethora of artifacts off the coast of Sicily. What they found was the site of the first ancient naval battle, comprising of weapons, armor, helmets and battering rams dating back 2,000 years. That’s some pretty old stuff down there. It’s incredible to think that all these items have remained intact after two millennia.
They are the remains of the battle of the Egadi Islands in which the Romans took on the Carthaginians for over 20 years. Around 50 Carthaginian ships were sunk and the priceless stash of artifacts has sat on the seabed for two millennia.
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