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RECONSTRUCTION BY LEEN RITMEYER

KETEF HINNOM TOMBS. Ketef Hinnom has seven burial caves from the late Iron Age (seventh century B.C.E.). Of these tombs, Cave 24 is one of the largest—with several burial chambers connected to a central room. The scrolls were found within an untouched repository in Chamber 25 of Cave 24. Burial benches line three of Chamber 25’s walls. Six headrests (only five of which are preserved) along the right wall would have allowed six bodies to be laid on that bench, while the other two benches in the room would have accommodated one body each (see drawing). Although these tombs were damaged by later quarrying and construction, enough architectural fragments remain for archaeologists to reconstruct the burial caves.