Israel
Archaeologists uncover new Dead Sea scrolls
First new finds for over 60 years
March 16, 2021 17:48
First new finds for over 60 years
March 16, 2021 17:48Dozens of new Dead Sea scroll fragments believed to have been hidden nearly 2,000 years ago have been found in a desert cave in Israel.
Archaeologists announced the ground-breaking discovery of the parchment bearing a biblical text, which may have been stored safely away during a Jewish revolt against Rome, on Tuesday.
The fragments were found in a cave in the Judean desert, south of Jerusalem, as part of an extensive search of the area.
The papers bear lines of Greek text from the books of Zechariah and Nahum and have been radiocarbon dated to the 2nd century AD, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.
“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,” one of the fragments reads, featuring an excerpt of the biblical book of Zecharia.
They are the first new scrolls found in archaeological excavations in the desert south of Jerusalem in 60 years.
The new pieces are believed to belong to a set of parchment fragments found in a site known as The Cave Of Horror, named for the 40 human skeletons found there during excavations in the 1960s, that also bear a Greek rendition of the Twelve Minor Prophets.
The fragments are believed to have been stashed away in the cave during the Bar Kochba Revolt, an armed Jewish uprising against Rome during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, between 132 and 136 AD.