Removing the swords from the crevice where they were hidden. (Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority)
(Tribune News Service) — Four “excellently preserved” Roman-era swords were found in a cave overlooking the Dead Sea, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Wednesday morning.
The rare weapons are believed to have been hidden by Judean rebels after they were seized from the Roman army nearly 2,000 years ago, researchers said. They were found in a small cave located in a near-inaccessible area in the Judean Desert Nature Reserve.
The discovery was made about two months ago by a team of researchers who had visited the area to photograph an ancient inscription on a stalactite found about 50 years ago.
While in the remote cave, Dr. Asaf Gayer of the Department of the Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Ariel Universit spotted four swords and an “extremely well-preserved” javelin known as a Roman pilum.
“At the back of the cave, in one of the deepest parts of it, inside a niche, I was able to retrieve that artifact — the Roman pilum head — which came out almost in mint condition,” Gayer said.
They were likely stashed in the cavern by Jewish rebels during an uprising against the Roman Empire in the 130s.
Four “excellently preserved” Roman-era swords were found in a cave overlooking the Dead Sea. From right to left: Dr. Asaf Gayer, Oriya Amichay, Dr. Eitan Klein and Amir Ganor. (Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority)
“The hiding of the swords and the pilum in deep cracks in the isolated cave north of ‘En Gedi, hints that the weapons were taken as booty from Roman soldiers or from the battlefield, and purposely hidden by the Judean rebels for reuse,” Dr. Eitan Klein, one of the directors of the Judean Desert Survey Project, told reporters. “Obviously, the rebels did not want to be caught by the Roman authorities carrying these weapons.”
The weapons were likely crafted in a distant European province and brought to the province of Judaea by Roman soldiers, according to Guy Stiebel, a Tel Aviv University archaeologist specializing in Roman military history.
The discovery of the artifacts was celebrated as a “dream” by researchers.
Three of them, whose iron blades were between 24 and 26 inches, were still inside wooden scabbards. “Leather strips and wooden and metal finds belonging to the weapons were also found in the crevice,” researchers said.
Contributing: Wire reports
©2023 New York Daily News.
Visit nydailynews.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
