REUTERS/Rony Levinson/FilesMAAGAN MICHAEL, Israel, Sept 22 (Reuters) - An ancient shipwreck found off the shore of Israel and loaded with cargo from all over the Mediterranean shows that traders from the West still came to port even after the Islamic conquest of the Holy Land, researchers say. The excavation is backed by the Israel Science Foundation, Honor Frost Foundation and the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University. SHIP GRAVEYARD IN SHALLOW SEASThe coast of Israel is abundant with ships that sank over the millennia. A storm might shift the sands and expose a relic, which is what happened with the new discovery at Maagan Michael. Some of the cargo bore symbols of the Christian Byzantine church and others had writing in Arabic.

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