During September 2006, D. Schlezinger reported finding an ancient anchor on the Yafo escarpment, next to the water line, following development work that had been conducted in preparation of a park. The anchor was documented by Y. Arbel and L. Rauchberger on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, with the assistance of T. Shaham of the Jaffa Antiquities Museum, and A. Ben Ezra.
The anchor was found in an area that is part of a declared antiquities site where ancient architectural elements had been discovered in the past. However, it was utilized for many years as a refuse site for construction debris and no archaeological excavations were conducted there.
The shape of the beach-rock anchor is trapezoidal (length 0.57 m, upper side 0.32 m, lower side 0.37 m, thickness 0.2 m; Fig. 1). One of the broad side corners is broken and it is estimated that c. 10 cm are missing from it. The narrow side is probably the upper part of the anchor and c. 15 cm below it is a square perforation (9 × 9 cm) for tying a rope.
Anchors of similar types were used in various periods and as the anchor was not found within a clear archaeological context it could not be precisely dated.
The anchor was moved to the Jaffa Antiquities Museum for temporary storage, prior to its transfer to the storerooms of the Antiquities Authority.