Divers spot crusty metal item — and find 3,600-year-old weapon near Turkey. See it

While scouring the depths of the Mediterranean Sea, divers recently came upon a small metal object.

Crusted over and covered in green grime, it didn’t look like much. But it turned out to be something remarkable.

It was a 3,600-year-old dagger belonging to a long-lost civilization.

The blade was discovered during the underwater excavation of a shipwreck near Antalya, a city on the southern coast of Turkey, the Turkish minister of culture and tourism announced in an Aug. 29 post on X.

Using hand tools, divers carefully freed the object from the seafloor and took it to the surface in a large box, according to a video accompanying the post.

Measuring about 7 inches long, the blade is fashioned from bronze and held together with silver rivets.

It belonged to the Minoan civilization, which emerged on the island of Crete from around 3000 B.C.

Based on archaeological evidence, the Minoans are believed to have been members of “a thriving, relatively peaceful culture, based on control of the sea,” according to research from Lake Forest College in Illinois.

However, the island civilization came to a sudden end in 1450 B.C., according to the Knossos Palace, a Minoan culture museum in Crete.

It’s not clear what caused the civilization’s downfall, but some theories point to a volcanic eruption and geopolitical turmoil.

Google Translate was used to translate a news release from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

This story was originally published August 30, 2024 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Divers spot crusty metal item — and find 3,600-year-old weapon near Turkey. See it."