Researchers find four 1,900-year-old Roman swords in the Dead Sea
Israeli researchers discovered a cache in which four Roman swords were well preserved, in a cave overlooking the Dead Sea.
Three swords were found inside wooden sheaths, in an inaccessible crevice, by a team that was photographing ancient inscriptions on the stalactites of the cave.
The weapons are 1,900 years old, and their iron blades are 60–65 cm (24–26 in) long.
Archaeologists believe that Judean rebels hid the swords after seizing them from spoils from the Roman army.
"This is a dramatic and exciting discovery that touches on a specific moment in time," Eli Escocedo, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a statement.
Escocido explained that the dry desert climate around the Dead Sea contributed to preserving the artifacts, which would not have lasted for so long had they been placed anywhere else in Israel.
"It is a one-of-a-kind time capsule, containing fragments of scrolls, coins from the Jewish Revolt, leather sandals, and now swords in their scabbards, with blades sharp as if they were just hidden today."
Archaeologists excavate the cave in front of an unusual view
Fifty years ago, a cave stalactite (descending columns) was found with an incomplete ink inscription written in ancient Hebrew script in a small cave high on a cliff above the Dead Sea, north of the "Ein Gedi" oasis in eastern Israel.
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Archaeologist Dr. Assaf Gair of Ariel University, geologist Boaz Langford of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and photographer Shai Halevi of the Israel Antiquities Authority recently went to the cave, aiming to use multispectral photography to decipher some of the inscriptions invisible to the naked eye.
While at the top of the cave, Dr. Jair discovered a well-preserved Roman spear in a narrow crevice. He also found decorated wood nearby that turned out to be parts of sword sheaths.
After the researchers reported this discovery, they returned with another team to survey all the cracks in the cave, where they found the swords.
Archaeologists believe that Judean rebels hid the swords after seizing them from the Roman army
The three swords still in their wooden scabbards were identified as Roman spathas, long swords, while the fourth, shorter weapon was identified as a ring-hilted sword with a hollow circle.
All weapon handles are made of wood or metal, well made, and leather strips and wooden and metal pieces related to them were also found.
Archaeologist Uriah Amichai described them: "They looked like a stack of books. But they were swords!"
He added: "Of course, we know the story from history. But seeing such a discovery is like living this history."
Three swords with iron blades inside wooden sheaths were found
Archaeologists say that the hiding of swords and spears in the cave indicates that the weapons were taken by Judean rebels from Roman soldiers as spoils or from the battlefield.
It was deliberately hidden for reuse, perhaps during the second major Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire in Judea - the Bar Kochba Revolt (132 AD - 135 AD).
Dr. Eitan Klein, director of the Judean Desert Survey Project, said: “We have just begun research into the cave and the weapons cache discovered in it, with the aim of trying to find out who owned the swords, where, when and who made them.”
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