عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Gaza Authorities Discover over 60 Roman Era Graves

A Palestinian excavation team works in a newly discovered Roman era cemetery in the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022. (AP)
A Palestinian excavation team works in a newly discovered Roman era cemetery in the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022. (AP)
TT
TT

Gaza Authorities Discover over 60 Roman Era Graves

A Palestinian excavation team works in a newly discovered Roman era cemetery in the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022. (AP)
A Palestinian excavation team works in a newly discovered Roman era cemetery in the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022. (AP)

Hamas authorities in Gaza on Sunday announced the discovery of over 60 tombs in an ancient burial site dating back to the Roman era. 

Work crews have been excavating the site since it was discovered last January during preparations for an Egyptian-funded housing project. 

Hiyam al-Bitar, a researcher from the Hamas-run Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism, said a total of 63 graves have been identified and that a set of bones and artifacts from one tomb was dated back to the second century. 

She said the ministry is working with a team of French experts to learn more about the site. On Sunday, workers sifted through the soil and removed piles of dirt in wheelbarrows. 

Although the ancient cemetery is now blocked off from the public, construction on the housing project has continued and the site is surrounded by apartment buildings. Local media reported looting when the site was first discovered, with people using donkey-drawn carts to haul away items like a covered casket and inscribed bricks. 

Gaza, a coastal enclave home to more than 2 million people, is known for its rich history stemming from its location on ancient trade routes between Egypt and the Levant. But Israeli occupation, a blockade, conflicts and rapid urban growth in the crowded, narrow territory are among the reasons most of Gaza’s archeological treasures have not been protected. 

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

German Man Sets World Record Living for 120 Days Underwater

Rudiger Koch has breakfast in his underwater home before emerging as a world record holder. MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP
Rudiger Koch has breakfast in his underwater home before emerging as a world record holder. MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP
TT
TT

German Man Sets World Record Living for 120 Days Underwater

Rudiger Koch has breakfast in his underwater home before emerging as a world record holder. MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP
Rudiger Koch has breakfast in his underwater home before emerging as a world record holder. MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP

A German aerospace engineer celebrated setting a world record Friday for the longest time living underwater without depressurization -- 120 days in a submerged capsule off the coast of Panama.

Rudiger Koch, 59, emerged from his 30-square-meter (320-square-foot) home under the sea in the presence of Guinness World Records adjudicator Susana Reyes.

She confirmed that Koch had beaten the record previously held by American Joseph Dituri, who spent 100 days living in an underwater lodge in a Florida lagoon.

"It was a great adventure and now it's over there's almost a sense of regret actually. I enjoyed my time here very much," Koch told AFP after leaving the capsule 11 meters (36 feet) under the sea.

"It is beautiful when things calm down and it gets dark and the sea is glowing," he said of the view through the portholes.

"It is impossible to describe, you have to experience that yourself," he added.

To celebrate, Koch toasted with champagne and smoked a cigar before leaping into the Caribbean Sea, where a boat picked him up and took him to dry land for a celebratory party.

Koch's capsule had most of the trappings of modern life: a bed, toilet, TV, computer and internet -- even an exercise bike.

Located some 15 minutes by boat from the coast of northern Panama, it was attached to another chamber perched above the waves by a tube containing a narrow spiral staircase, providing a way down for food and visitors, including a doctor.

Solar panels on the surface provided electricity. There was a backup generator, but no shower.

Koch had told an AFP journalist who visited him halfway through his endeavor that he hoped it would change the way we think about human life -- and where we can settle, even permanently.

"What we are trying to do here is prove that the seas are actually a viable environment for human expansion," he said.

Four cameras filmed his moves in the capsule -- capturing his daily life, monitoring his mental health and providing proof that he never came up to the surface.

"We needed witnesses who were monitoring and verifying 24/7 for more than 120 days," Reyes told AFP.

The record "is undoubtedly one of the most extravagant" and required "a lot of work," she added.

An admirer of Captain Nemo in Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," Koch kept a copy of the 19th century sci-fi classic on his bedside table beneath the waves.