Recent explorations in the Judean desert south of Jerusalem have revealed scores of new scroll fragments hidden away in secluded caves. The parchment fragments, which are dated by radiocarbon to the second century C.E., feature Greek translations of the Books of Zechariah and Nahum, both of which are included among the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Hebrew Bible. They are the first scrolls discovered in the Judean desert through official excavation in more than 60 years.
The scroll fragments, along with coins and arrowheads dating to the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–136 C.E.), were recovered from the so-called Cave of Horrors, where earlier excavations in the 1960s had identified the remains of dozens of men, women, and children who died while hiding out from the advancing Roman army.a Although the original excavators had already found a handful of scroll fragments with Greek translations of the Twelve Minor Prophets, this new discovery furthers our understanding of the Hebrew Bible’s history and textual transmission. Especially significant is the occurrence within the otherwise Greek fragments of the divine name YHWH spelled out in Old Hebrew, indicating that this ancient, pre-Exilic script continued to have special meaning well into the second century C.E. (see Matthieu Richelle’s article).
The investigations at the Cave of Horrors are part of a broader, multi-year campaign by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) to survey the secluded Judean desert, including hundreds of caves, in search of artifacts that the IAA believes are under threat from looting and destruction. In addition to the recent scroll discoveries, the survey campaign, which began in 2017, has recovered an exceptionally well preserved woven basket dating to the Neolithic period, about 10,500 years ago, and the mummified remains of a child who was laid to rest in a cave more than 6,000 years ago.b
Recent explorations in the Judean desert south of Jerusalem have revealed scores of new scroll fragments hidden away in secluded caves. The parchment fragments, which are dated by radiocarbon to the second century C.E., feature Greek translations of the Books of Zechariah and Nahum, both of which are included among the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Hebrew Bible. They are the first scrolls discovered in the Judean desert through official excavation in more than 60 years. The scroll fragments, along with coins and arrowheads dating to the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–136 C.E.), were recovered from the […]
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2. This article references some sites and artifacts excavated in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1967. The First Protocol of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, to which both the State of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority are States Parties, obligates the respective state parties to mutual cooperation and support regarding the protection of cultural heritage within an occupied area.
