Archaeologists celebrate new Dead Sea Scroll find

A mission to save ancient heritage from looters in the Judean desert has led to the discovery of a 1900-year old scroll, the first such discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls were unearthed more than seven decades ago.

Archaeologists also found a 6000-year-old child’s skeleton and the oldest complete basket in the world. 

Archaeologists from the Israeli Antiquities Authority discovered the objects in a cave in a ravine near Nahil Hever, west of Dead Sea.

The finds included a cache of coins bearing Jewish symbols such as a harp and a date palm,minted during the short-lived Jewish revolt of Bar Kokhba, who was declared the Jewish Messiah and from 132-136 AD led an independent Jewish Kingdom, and inspired Jewish uprisings across the Eastern Mediterranean.

The presence of the coins, along with arrow and spear heads, woven fabric, sandals and even lice combs, indicates that the cave was used as shelter by refugees from the war which ended with a punitive Roman victory. 

Speaking of the find, Raz Frohlich, the CEO of Israel’s Ministry of Sports and Culture, said: “This is a historic discovery, on an international level at this time. Alongside progress and technology, we are reminded of the rich historical heritage of the Jewish people. The importance of this event took an additional turn for me on a personal level when dozens of youth took part in the excavations and were given the chance to meet with the Jewish ethos, which lives on from the days of the Bible, face to face.”

Since the discovery of the first Dead Sea Scrolls, caves in the region have been heavily targeted by looters, and state archaeologists are locked in a race with looters and opportunists.

The climatic conditions inside the caves have enabled the exceptional preservation of scrolls and ancient documents, which are cultural heritage assets of immense importance. As such, they are sought after by cave looters, who risk life and limb in their search, as well as damaging the caves and destroying historical evidence.  

“Any new Dead Sea scroll is a major find,” Dr Joe Uziel, head of the Dead Sea Scrolls preservation and research unit, said. “But what’s special about this new scroll is that it didn’t just turn up. We found it in its original resting place, which gives us a lot more context about who could have owned it and why was it left there.” 
“The aim of this national initiative is to rescue these rare and important heritage assets from the robbers’ clutches,” said Israel Antiquities Authority’s director Israel Hasson, who launched the national operation. “The newly discovered scroll fragments are a wakeup call to the state. Resources must be allocated for the completion of this historically important operation. We must ensure that we recover all the data that has not yet been discovered in the caves, before the robbers do. Some things are beyond value.”

Hasson added: “The desert team showed exceptional courage, dedication and devotion to purpose, rappelling down to caves located between heaven and earth, digging and sifting through them, enduring thick and suffocating dust, and returning with gifts of immeasurable worth for mankind.”

The fragments of the scroll, written in Greek, bear the words: “These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another, render true and perfect justice in your gates. And do not contrive evil against one another, and do not love perjury, because all those are things that I hate – declares the Lord.”

These verses, from Zechariah 8:16–17, are part of a scroll that once contained the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets, including the books of Zechariah and Nahun.