text: It was almost 500 years ago when The Bom Jesus, a Portuguese sailing ship, inexplicably vanished while en route to India. The vessel was carrying an immense treasure that has eluded even the most ardent and focused treasure hunters. A recent discovery in the Namibia desert, however, may signal the end of that hunt. 
   
   The Sperrgebiet, or “forbidden territory,” houses the joint operation of the DeBeers Diamond company and the Namibian government. This patch of desert near the African coastline—approximately 10,000 square miles—has pulsated with the exploits of would-be treasure hunters for quite some time now. 
   
   The hunt began a hundred years prior when a German prospector happened upon a diamond in the area. News of this discovery spread throughout the prospector’s homeland, and an influx of German people would take to the area with hopes of making a similar discovery. More notably, though, the discovery would prompt Namdeb (portmanteau of Namibia and DeBeers) to mine the area. 
   
   In 2008, miners were pushing their bulldozers across the golden sands, when they happened upon metal, wood, and pipes assembled in a strange, and at the time indiscernible, mass. 
   
   A call was made to archaeologist Dieter Noli who quickly identified the objects on the “disturbed beach” as a shipwreck. 
   
   Amid the wreckage were 44,000 pounds of copper ingots, which archaeologist Bruno Werz believes allowed the ship to survive its 500-year isolation. 
   
   “Wooden remains would normally have been eaten by organisms,” said Werz, “but the poison would have protected part of those materials.” 
   
   Bom Jesus Found? 
   
   The ship’s cargo matches that of The Bom Jesus, as articulated by the sixteenth-century book, “Memorias Das Armadas,” which lists the ship as lost. The ship mysteriously disappeared in 1533 which would make this the oldest shipwreck to be discovered in Sub Saharan Africa. 
   
   Nearly 24 pounds of treasure were discovered. Among these relics were 2,000 mint condition gold coins from Portugal and Spain, Portuguese silver coins, cannons made of bronze, tons of copper ingots, more than 50 elephant tusks, and navigational tools. 
   
   “We figured out the ship came in, it hit a rock and it leaned over,” said Noli. “The superstructure started breaking up and the chest with the coins was in the captain’s cabin, and it broke free and fell to the bottom of the sea intact… In breaking up, a very heavy part of the side of the ship fell on that chest and bent some of the coins. You can see the force by which the chest was hit, but it also protected the chest.” 
   
   The remnants of the ship are now being guarded by Namdeb. As per 16th-century practice, timber, muskets, cannonballs and swords are being kept in damp storage. Most of the find, however, is being kept out of the public eye. 
   
   There are talks about featuring the shipwreck in a museum but as of yet nothing is confirmed. ||||| (CNN) In 1908, a German prospector found a diamond in the Namibian Desert. The area came to be known as the Sperrgebiet, or "forbidden territory," and was soon overrun by Germans on the hunt for the precious stone (they annexed 10,000 square miles of the desert for themselves). Today, DeBeers and the Namibian government still run a joint operation in the area. 
   
   Photos: The diamond rush that revealed an ancient secret Photos: The diamond rush that revealed an ancient secret In the heart of Namibia's diamond country, the Sperrgebiet, prospectors struck gold, finding the remains of a fifteenth century ship, brilliantly preserved amid the dunes. Hide Caption 1 of 6 Photos: The diamond rush that revealed an ancient secret The ship is believed to be called The Bom Jesus ("The Good Jesus"), a Portuguese vessel that set sail for India but never made it out of the Southern Atlantic. One of numerous trade vessels to make the journey, archeologists discovered great riches in gold coins, copper and ivory among the ruins. Hide Caption 2 of 6 Photos: The diamond rush that revealed an ancient secret Archeologists believe that the site is so well preserved for a variety of reasons. The Sperrgebiet has for over a century been heavily restricted due to the mining operation underway, which has limited the number of humans who can access the 10,000-square-mile region. As for the ship itself, a large quantity of poisonous copper aboard is believed to have staved off microbes which would normally have consumed organic material in the ground. Hide Caption 3 of 6 Photos: The diamond rush that revealed an ancient secret Gold coins were key to identifying the remains. Archeologists were able to date the Spanish and Portuguese currency back to a brief 13 year window in the fifteenth century, before cross referencing against various contemporary logs. Hide Caption 4 of 6 Photos: The diamond rush that revealed an ancient secret Among the objects aided by the copper aboard is this 500-year-old musket, unusually designed to rest on the cheek. Hide Caption 5 of 6 Photos: The diamond rush that revealed an ancient secret Ivory was also discovered, suggesting the ship made at least one stop before its failed attempt to enter the Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 6 of 6 
   
   But on April 1, 2008 a worker discovered something far more valuable. He'd been searching for diamonds but struck on gold -- only this gold had been missing for nearly half a millennia. 
   
   The smoking gun 
   
   What was found that day had not been seen since the fifteenth century. The miners themselves did not know what they had hit on when they discovered pieces of metal, wood and pipes while they were bulldozing. At a loss, they called in an archaeologist. 
   
   Dieter Noli remembers first surveying the scene: 
   
   Read More ||||| A mine worker discovered sparkling artifacts in the soil which was the ship wreck dated between 1525 and 1538. Courtesy: CNN 
   
   IT IS every archaeologist’s dream — the discovery of a missing ship which disappeared more than 500 years ago with a treasure chest of gold on-board. 
   
   Not only did the discovery of the resting place of TheBom Jesus solve one of the biggest maritime mysteries, but for chief archeologist Dieter Noli, it was a history-changing find. 
   
   The South African-based scientist told news.com.au he knew when he received a call revealing an usual find along the African desert coastline it would be for something special. 
   
   But not even he knew at the time how big that find would be. 
   
   A ship which had disappeared on its way to India laden with gold in 1533 had vanished, its fate and that of her crew unknown. 
   
   Fast forward 500 years and that mystery was closer to being solved when a group of miners hunting diamonds off the Namibian dessert stumbled across some strange objects. 
   
   The discovery and what it uncovered continues to captivate with talks now in place for the site to be opened up into a museum featuring what remains of the shipwreck that had been buried under the sand for half a millennia. 
   
   THE DISCOVERY 
   
   When miners stumbled across some unusual finds in their hunt for diamonds in April 2008, they knew they had found metal, wood and pipes. 
   
   Unsure of what they were dealing with, the company they worked for, Namdeb Diamond Corporation, called in Dr Noli who instantly knew it was a shipwreck. 
   
   Dr Noli, the chief archeologist of the southern Africa Institute of Maritime Archaeological Research, said the coastline was notorious for storms so finding a shipwreck was hardly surprising. 
   
   However, it was a week into the excavation that a treasure chest laden with gold was found, with the coins indicating it had come from a Portuguese ship which had disappeared in 1533. 
   
   “It adds new meaning to the concept of the ship having being loaded with gold,” Dr Noli said. 
   
   Further investigation revealed the discovery of bronze bowls, and long metal poles later found to be canons. 
   
   Dr Noli’s team also found a musket which he estimated to be at least 500 years old and bits of metal revealed a shipwreck was buried in the sand. 
   
   The miners who were now working on the site also found compasses, swords, astrological tools, canons and even a time capsule. 
   
   Silver coins were found. 
   
   Dr Noli then contacted Bruno Werz, a marine archeologist who told CNN it was a dream come true to work on a ship from just after the age of exploration. 
   
   He also said it was crucially important from world heritage perspective to find a shipwreck which contained material from three continents. 
   
   “You can’t describe the feeling of seeing this material and realising how important it is,” he told the broadcaster in an earlier interview. 
   
   He also said the large amounts of copper at the site helped preserve a lot of the objects, its weight preventing a lot of it from washing away. 
   
   However the ship was “extremely badly battered” by the sea, with little of the original structure of left. 
   
   GOLDEN FIND 
   
   A week into the dig, the team found gold coins. a lot of them. 
   
   The centuries old coins were in mint condition which Dr Noli believes is down to the ship breaking on rocks, tipping over and the chest with coins inside being buried under the superstructure. 
   
   It was these very coins which gave Dr Noli and his team a massive clue. 
   
   Within 45 minutes of finding the first gold coin, they had unearthed around 11kg of the treasure, Dr Noli told CNN. 
   
   Dated between 1525-38 and in perfect condition, it meant the ship would have had to have set sail during that time. 
   
   It also served as proof that the find was the oldest ever shipwreck found in sub-Saharan Africa. 
   
   WHAT ELSE WAS FOUND 
   
   Thousands of Portuguese and Spanish gold coins, Portuguese silver coins, bronze cannons, tonnes of copper ingots, more than 50 elephant tusks, as well as navigational instruments were uncovered. 
   
   Dr Noli said more than 2000 gold coins were found in addition to five anchors, three navigational dividers and part of a ship’s compass. 
   
   Pewter tableware, copper cooking utensils, swords and muskets were also found. 
   
   Only a small part of the structural remains of the ship was uncovered. 
   
   Some 5438 artefacts of cultural, scientific and intrinsic value were discovered in total. 
   
   THE DIAMOND HUNTING AREA 
   
   The Namibian coastline, some 18km north of the Orange River mouth, is renowned for its high number of storms and treacherous seas. 
   
   The area where the ship was found was called Sperrgebiet, or “forbidden territory,” after the hundreds of German prospectors who ventured to the region in search for diamonds. 
   
   Diamond company DeBeers and the Namibian government still run a joint operation in the area, according to CNN and the area remains largely out of sight. 
   
   The remains of the shipwreck remain protected by mining security with limited numbers allowed onto the site. 
   
   An idea for a museum has been floated but it remains to be seen whether it will occur.
target: – Miners have been pulling diamonds from a vast area of Namibia's Namib Desert called the Sperrgebiet (or "forbidden territory") for more than a century. But in 2008, workers hunting for diamonds where the desert meets the Atlantic Ocean found something even more precious: the likely remains of the Bom Jesus, a Portuguese sailing ship that disappeared some 500 years ago on its way to India. It's a discovery, per recent coverage by News.com.au, that solved "one of the biggest maritime mysteries." Also, says archaeologist Dieter Noli, it's the oldest shipwreck ever found in sub-Saharan Africa. And there's treasure as well: Included in the find were some 2,000 gold coins from Spain and Portugal, according to Gainesville News. Upon unearthing the site of the shipwreck, per CNN, workers found pieces of metal, wood, and what looked like pipes. Not sure what they had found, they called in Noli. "It just looked like a disturbed beach," he told CNN earlier this month, "but lying on it were bits and pieces." Among those were a centuries-old musket and an elephant tusk. "I thought, 'Oh, no no, this is definitely a shipwreck,'" Noli says. Ultimately, in addition to the gold, workers recovered cannons (the pipes), navigational instruments, tons of copper ingots, swords, and a lot more—some 5,438 artifacts. Not much of the actual structure of the ship remains. But archaeologists have matched the cargo with that of the Bom Jesus (which means the "Good Jesus") based on details found in a 16th-century book that lists the ship as lost. The stretch of coastline is known for storms. Speaking to CNN, Noli speculates that the Bom Jesus "came in, it hit a rock, and it leaned over." (A famed shipwreck closer to home is getting a closer look.)