Image Details

Avraham Hai
Three burial benches surround a central passageway in a Jerusalem cave. The cave itself has for the most part been cut away—the result of ancient quarrying—and only the floor with the hewn burial benches has survived. The configuration of burial benches is typical of burial caves of the late first Temple Period. On the foreground bench, a row of carved headrests in the shape of horseshoes is clearly visible. It was under this bench that the author found the intact repository containing a rich collection of objects including jewelry, arrowheads, pottery—and the two tiny pure silver amulets.