Jacob Sharvit, Director of the Marine Unit of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, holds an artifact from the merchant ship at a press event in Caesarea, Israel, May 16, 2016. [Photo/IC]

The IAA said the vessel had probably hit a storm as it entered the harbour and had drifted before hitting rocks and the seawall.

The IAA said the range of items reflected a "period of economic and commercial stability" in the late Roman Empire. It said past marine excavations in Caesarea had uncovered a small number of bronze statues but this haul was much bigger and the sand-protected statues were in "an amazing state" of preservation.

Last year divers found a haul of 1,000-year-old gold coins inscribed in Arabic on the sea bed off Israel.