Two sakers from Israel

Abstract

About 1973, an Israeli amateur diver and fisherman discovered bronze guns on the sea bed close to the shoreline, somewhere in the proximity of Haifa or Athlit. He had a friend with a tractor, and they attached a long rope to the guns and dragged the two pieces one by one over the sea bed up to the shore. The discovery came to the attention of the appropriate Department, probably of the University of Haifa, and divers carried out a more professional search on location. Parts of a spoked wheel and some loose timber were recovered which were part of a guncarriage, matching some pieces still attached by encrustation on the re-inforce of gun No. 236. No other remains of a vessel etc. could be found on site. It is said that the fisherman and his partner intended to donate these guns to the Maritime Museum but could not come to an agreement, a legal wrangle followed, and gun No. 236 ended up in the backyard of the Maritime Museum, whilst gun No. 235 remained with the fisherman and his partner. (The numbers are my own registry numbers.)In the spring of 1976, I was asked to restore some Bedouin boats at the Museum. I was there for three months, during which I saw gun No. 236 for the first time. Its weight had caused a depression in the tarmac, marine encrustation remained for the larger part still on the gun and some timbers of the carriage were lying about in the vicinity. Little interest or information was available and I began to remove the dry and splitting encrustation on the gun. At this stage I noticed chisel-marks covering large parts of the gun, especially the chase. They had all the appearance of a rather forceful and inconsiderate removal operation of the marine encrustation. These marks were, however, under the encrustation and therefore caused before the gun came to rest on the sea bed.

Church Rocks, 1975-83: a reassessment

“…In addition these dates correspond more closely with those of the ceramic evidence. The 'S A' minion dated 1571 from the Rotunda, Woolwich mentioned by Roth (1989) is distinguishable from the above examples by virtue of its length, style of lettering and date. It may well be an example of Sigismundo 11's work prior to his appointment, and the apparent standardization which followed.…”

A late 16th- to early 17th-century European shipwreck carrying Venetian ordnance discovered off the Carmel coast, Israel

“…Their small size suggests that the founder was not accustomed to putting these elements on his pieces: perhaps they were added at the customer's order. Although this artefact carries no founder's mark, Roth suggested that it could have originated in Venice (Roth, : 64) because it possesses a four‐legged iron crown system used to lock the muzzle core‐mould. Such iron crowns were used by Venetian gunfounders.…”

“…Piece B: a) drawing (after Roth, ); b) breech details; c) reinforce detail; d) barrel decorations; e) muzzle detail. (E. Galili)…”

“…Roth (: 64–5) identified this piece as a Venetian saker ( sacro in Italian), cast by Giovanni (Zuane) II Alberghetti, a member of a famous family of Venetian gun founders (Morin, ). Roth (: 64–5) lists two other bronze guns attributed to this individual gun founder, based on the presence of the initials Z A on their chases. The first is a saker from the Armada ship Trinidad Valencera , the Venetian Balancera (Beltrame, : 12), sunk on September 16 1588 in Kinnagoe Bay, Donegal (Martin, : 93–4).…”

“…During 2013, while checking the site, O and E. Galili discovered a third bronze gun (piece C). Pieces A and B have been briefly published in this journal, without mention of the location and context of the shipwreck (Roth, ). The site, the three artillery pieces, and additional associated artefacts are described and discussed below.…”