
A. Canaanite dough hook
B. Iron knife
C. Bronze fishhook
D. Egyptian sickle
E. Cloak hook
Answer: (C) Bronze fishhook
Discovered in the Carmel coast shipwreck south of Haifa alongside a thousand-plus metal objects was this bronze third-century A.D. fishhook, one of 33.1 It was partially coated in lead, so that the hook would sink in water.
In antiquity—just like the present—the hook would have been attached to a line, which was connected to a rod, and cast from a boat or shoreline. These hooks would have typically been baited with either food or a lure that resembled an escaping fish.
Because fishing tools have not changed much over time, fishing gear needs to be dated according to other artifacts found in conjunction with it. The date of this Carmel coast shipwreck was determined by the coins found among the wreckage—giving a third-century date.
MLA Citation
Endnotes
Lawrence E. Stager, “Chariot Fittings from Philistine Ashkelon,” in Seymour Gitin, J. Edward Wright and J.P. Dessel, eds, Confronting the Past: Archaeological and Historical Essays on Ancient Israel in Honor of William G. Dever (Winona Lake, IN:Eisenbrauns, 2006), pp. 169–176. See also Trude Dothan and Alexandra S. Drenka, “Linchpins Revisited,” in J. David Schloen, ed., Exploring the Longue Durée: Essays in Honor of Lawrence E. Stager (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2009), pp. 97–101.