There must have been a long wait for water at the old cistern in Be’er Sheva in southern Israel.
So long that someone, or perhaps more than one person, decided to while away the time by enjoying that age-old art of graffiti.
They chose to etch something close to their heart or uppermost in their minds into the walls — 13 doodles of ships, along with a line drawing of accompanying sailor plus a few random animals.
Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority stumbled across the ancient ship drawings and the 2,000-year-old ancient cistern while working in the area in advance of a new development.
Deep discovery
Stairs lead down to the 12-metre deep cistern with rock etchings lining the side walls.
A report in Live Science quotes the Israel Antiquities Authority's rock-art specialist Davida Eisenberg-Degen as saying the ships are “realistically proportioned and show details consistent with the shipbuilding of the day”.
The cistern — and hopefully the drawings — are to be preserved as part of the new development in the town.
Who knows, today’s bulker line drawings could be tomorrow’s museum pieces.
