Dead Sea Archives - Page 14 of 30

Dead Sea Scroll Thieves Caught Red-Handed

Antiquities thieves plunder sites all over the biblical world year after year, but rarely are they caught, especially in the act. The Israel Antiquities Authority nabbed a group of illegal diggers working near the Dead Sea. This press release has all of the fascinating details.

Today (Sunday) an indictment was handed up against antiquities robbers who tried to loot Dead Sea scrolls from the Judean Desert. This comes in the wake of a dramatic capture carried out last weekend by inspectors of the Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery of the Israel Antiquities Authority, with the assistance of the Arad Rescue Unit. The apprehension of the robbers was part of a complex operation to locate the Dead Sea scroll robbers, which lasted more than a year.

Early in the morning hours members of the Arad Rescue Unit, which were undergoing routine training at the time, identified suspicious movement in a cave in the northern cliff of Nahal Ze’elim, in the region of the Leopard’s Ascent.

Inspectors of the Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery of the Israel Antiquities Authority were called to the scene and they placed the cave under surveillance utilizing observation and photographic equipment. The suspects were observed in the cave carrying out an illicit excavation while using a metal detector and a large amount of excavating equipment.

The suspects dug in an ancient cave which is known in archaeological circles as “The Cave of the Skulls”. They caused tremendous damage in the cave by digging through layers of earth while destroying archaeological strata and historical evidence from the Roman period c. 2,000 years ago and the Chalcolithic period c. 5,000 years ago.

The cave is located in the side of the cliff, 150 meters above the bottom of Nahal Ze’elim and some 70 meters below the top of the cliff. It can only be reached on foot via a narrow goat’s path on top of rock fall, that passes upright bedrock walls and is extremely dangerous.

The suspects – all young men from the village of Seir in the vicinity of Hebron – demonstrated considerable expertise in reaching the cave by climbing and rappelling from the cliff while using special equipment they possessed.

After observing and documenting the suspects in action, the suspects began climbing to the top of the cliff during the evening while carrying on their back ancient finds (such as a 2,000 year old lice comb from the Roman period) and all of the digging equipment that included excavation tools, break-in equipment, two sophisticated metal detectors, lighting equipment and ropes, as well as large amounts of food and water, which indicate their intention to remain in the cave for many days. Inspectors of the Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery awaited the suspects at the top of the cliff. Upon arrival the suspects were immediately caught by the Israel Antiquities Authority personnel. They were detained and taken for questioning to the Arad police station where, with the assistance of the Arad police and investigators, they were interrogated for many hours and gave their version of events.

The press release continues here. The story is reported by the Jerusalem Post, the Associated Press, and the BBC. Nahal Ze’elim is located south of En Gedi and a few miles north of Masada.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle

Looted cave in Nahal Ze’elim
Photos courtesy of the Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Dead Sea

Weekend Roundup

Anna Moseley Gissing writes about three lessons she learned from archaeology about the spiritual life.

Haaretz reports that the appointment of Israel’s new antiquities chief is embroiled in politics.

Should the Vatican return the menorah from the Jerusalem Temple? Steven Fine assigned his class the task of refuting the notion that the Vatican has it.

Greek archaeologists excavating a fourth-century BC tomb at Amphipolis have made an “extremely important find.”

~~Camels~~ Mummification existed in Egypt 1,500 years earlier than scientists have long believed.

The Egyptian government has asked the Ashmolean museum to lend it the personal collection of Howard Carter.

Brian Daniels discusses Preserving Culture in War on this week’s broadcast of The Book and the Spade.

What is the relationship between the archaeology of Jerusalem and the Book of Mormon? SourceFlix has produced a new video that answers this question.

Wayne Stiles describes two oases along the shore of the Dead Sea. (Can you guess which ones they are? Neither one ends with “Gedi.”) He includes photos, a video, and a map.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Triumphal procession depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, volume 15

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jerusalem, Museums, Weekend Roundup

New Scrolls from the Dead Sea Area

In a presentation last week at the conference on “The History of the Caves of Qumran,” Yonatan Adler reported the discovery of a group of phylacteries (tefillin) containing nine small manuscripts.

These were discovered in Caves 4 and 5 in 1952 but only recently did Adler determine that they contained texts.

The discovery was reported in the Italian press (with a photo) and Joseph Lauer has provided a translation of the article:

***

LUGANO – The discovery of new Qumran manuscripts was announced during the International Research Seminar on “The History of the Caves of Qumran,” organized by the Institute of Culture and Archaeology of the Biblical Lands of the Faculty of Theology of Lugano (chaired by prof. Dr. George Paximadi).

Working on materials from the archaeological excavations of the ‘50s, archaeologist Yonatan Adler found some intact phylacteries (the boxes – used by religious Jews – which contain small manuscript rolls with a biblical text).

It was possible to detect the manuscripts in them thanks to special photographs (multispectral imaging) carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The phylacteries are from Qumran caves 4 and 5, excavated in 1952 by the archaeologist Roland de Vaux.

Among the material processed by the Israel Antiquities Authority’s laboratory for the conservation of the scrolls, were three packs containing nine small scrolls manuscripts.

“It does not happen every day to discover new manuscripts. It was really a great feeling,” said Yonatan Adler, Ariel University.

“I am very proud that in our laboratory, using the most advanced technologies, we can reconstruct the history of two thousand years ago,” said Pnina Shor, director of the laboratory for the conservation of the scrolls of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The seminar curated by Prof. Marcello Fidanzio, direttore del settore ambiente biblico dell’ISCAB, Facoltà di Teologia di Lugano, brought together 65 of the most important scholars of Qumran world, including Emanuel Tov (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Jodi Magness (University of North
Carolina), E. Puech (École Biblique et Archéologique Franҫaise, Jerusalem), Sidnie White Crawford (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), J. Taylor (King’s College London), Jurgen Zangenberg (Leiden University).

***

Lauer has located some related resources:
Drew Longacre’s notice of this and another discovery reported at the seminar.

Adler’s previous lecture on “The Tefillin of Qumran–Archaeology and Halacha.”

A photograph of a previously discovered phylactery.

Qumran Caves 4 and 5
Screenshot from Qumran Caves presentation in volume 4 of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries

Weekend Roundup

A jug containing silver earrings and ingots has been unearthed at Abel Beth Maacah. The find dates to about 1200 BC.

Some missing pieces of the Colossi of Memnon have been discovered.

A new discovery in Crete confirms the practice of human sacrifice in the Mycenean culture circa 1300 BC.

Israeli police have arrested two Muslim workers for illegal excavations on the Temple Mount.

The Vatican is allegedly pressuring Jerusalem officials into turning over control of the Mount Zion complex that houses the traditional Upper Room and the tomb of David.

Titus Kennedy discusses the domestication of camels on this week’s interview on The Book and the Spade (direct link here).

Gordon Franz explains how the Via Egnatia was part of the means that God enabled the spread of the gospel “in the fullness of time.”

The site of Beit Guvrin and Maresha is a candidate for the World Heritage List. The impressive bell caves and ruins of a Roman-period city are among the attractions at this site in the southern Shephelah of Judah.

A couple who spent three days hiking near the Dead Sea share their experiences in a Jerusalem Post travel article.

Aren Maeir links to the full-length version of the Orson Welles movie of David and Goliath.

HT: Charles Savelle, Jack Sasson

The bell caves of Beit Guvrin
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Galilee, Greece, Jerusalem, Mediterranean Islands, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Seminar: The History of the Caves of Qumran

The Institute of Culture and Archaeology of the Bible Lands and the Faculty of Theology of Lugano, Switzerland, are hosting on February 20-21, 2014 a research seminar entitled, “The History of the Caves of Qumran.”

The program gives the following description and schedule of lectures.

The Research Seminar is dedicated to the Qumran Caves. Usually archaeological studies focus on the ruins and consider the caves as a background. Our intention is to center the interest on the caves themselves. We’ll consider not only the eleven caves in which the manuscripts were found during the last century, but all the caves that offered archeological material.

In particular, the focus of the seminar is on the identity of each individual cave in comparison with the other caves of Qumran. In addition, the ensemble of Qumran caves will be compared with other caves or findings in the Dead Sea region. Both archeological and textual data will be used in order to provide useful elements to outline the history of use of the caves.

First Session: Topography

M. Fidanzio, General Introduction

J. Taylor, The Qumran Caves in Their Regional Context

J.-B. Humbert, La morphologie des grottes de Qumrân [The morphology of the caves of Qumran]

Second Session: Manuscripts

F. García Martínez, Contents of the Manuscripts from the Caves of Qumran

C. Hempel, The Profile and Character of Qumran Cave 4

E. Puech, La paléographie des manuscrits de Qumrân [The paleography of the Qumran manuscripts]

E. Tov, Scribal Characteristics of the Qumran Scrolls

Third Session: Other Findings

R. Bar Nathan, Pottery From the Qumran Caves

J. Młynarczyk, Terracotta Oil Lamps

O. Shamir and N. Sukenik, The Differences in the Textiles from the Qumran Caves Compared to Those Found in Other Judaean Desert Caves

M. Bélis, Les textiles inédits de Qumrân, fouilles de R. de Vaux: enquête et perspectives
[Unpublished textiles of Qumran, excavations of R. de Vaux: survey and prospects]

Y. Adler, Leather Tefillin Cases (Phylacteries)

D. Mizzi, Non-Ceramic/Textual Artefacts From the Qumran Caves

Fourth Session: History of Use of the Caves

M. Popovic, When and Why Were the Caves Near Qumran and in the Judaean Desert Used?

J. Magness and J. Zangenberg, The Functions of the Caves and the Settlement of Qumran

The research seminar will be preceded by the Fourth International Conference of TerraSancta on February 19 (mostly in Italian) as well as intensive courses (all in Italian) on February 17–18. More details are available in the program available online here.

For photos of the Qumran caves where Dead Sea Scrolls were found, see our summary here. The Israel Antiquities Authority also has a page explaining the major finds in each cave.

HT: Yonatan Adler

UPDATE (2/25): See this post for a report of Adler’s discovery of nine new manuscripts.

Dead Sea, Qumran, Scroll Caves sign from before 1967, tb021107674

Pre-1967 sign pointing to Dead Sea Scroll caves
Photo from Signs of the Holy Land

Tagged Dead Sea, Lectures

Weekend Roundup

The IAA has launched version 2.0 of the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library. The upgraded version includes 10,000 new images.

This looks like a valuable resource: Syria Photo Guide—A Comprehensive Guide to the Cultural and Historical Sites of Syria.

Excavations in Jerusalem’s Liberty Bell Park uncovered a quarry, a winepress (2nd c. AD), and a storage cave (1st c. BC).

An ‘Antilla’ well from the Byzantine period has been discovered in Tel Aviv.

The Assyrians: Masters of War, a 25-minute episode from the Discovery Channel is online.

The Ancient Near East Today has begun its second year of monthly e-newsletters. If you haven’t signed up already, you can do so here.

The update volume for The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land is on sale for $90. That’s the cheapest I’ve seen it. Until Feb 11. (Amazon: $130.)

Today is International Septuagint Day.

HT: Seth Rodriquez, Jack Sasson

Psalms Scroll from Cave 11
Image taken from the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library

Tagged Dead Sea, Excavations, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Resources, Syria, Technology, Weekend Roundup