Late Ptolemaic assemblages of metal artifacts and bronze coins recovered off the coast of 'Atlit

The available archaeological evidence cannot determine whether one is dealing with a warship or a merchant vessel carrying the ram as cargo. However, remains of the ship's prow were attached to the ram and protruded from it when found (see Fig. 4), and it is not reasonable to assume that this elongated wooden beam was kept attached to the ram while being carried onboard a merchant ship as a cargo. Similarly, the lead sling shot may be associated with military activities. Thus the first option of a warship wreckage is more likely. Likewise, as attested by other shipwrecks investigated off the Israeli coast, many seagoing vessels-no matter what their function-carried fishing gear to supplement the food of crew and passengers (Galili, Rosen and Sharvit 2002; 2010). If, indeed, this wrecked ship was part of the above-mentioned military campaign, the presence of both the series of scale weights and fishing sinkers would most likely have been linked to the supply activities surrounding the Ptolemaic operation. The ship may later have sunk while the fleet headed south, toward Gaza (see above), which Lathyrus conquered and used as a base during the struggle which ensued.