Israeli archaeologists on Tuesday announced the discovery of dozens of new Dead Sea Scroll fragments bearing a biblical text found in a desert cave and believed hidden during the Bar-Kochba Revolt.
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The fragments of parchment bear lines of Greek text from the books of Zechariah and Nahum and have been radiocarbon dated to the 2nd century CE, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. They are the first new scrolls found in archaeological excavations in the desert south of Jerusalem in 60 years.
Work to study and preserve the fragments, conducted by Tania Bitler, Dr. Oren Abelman, and Beatriz Riestra of the Dead Sea Scroll Unit in the IAA found that the lines of text were Greek translations of Zecharia 8:16-17.
The text on the recently-discovered fragments of scroll reads: "These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace. Do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD." (Zechariah 8:16-17)
Video: Israel Antiquities Authority
Researchers determined these two verses to have been written by two different scribes.
Another fragment bears verses 5-6 from Nachum 1: "The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him."
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 12 Minor Prophets. The cave is located in a remote canyon in the Judean Desert south of Jerusalem.
The fragments are believed to have been stashed away in the cave during the Bar Kochba Revolt against the Roman rule between 132 and 136 CE.
The artifacts were found during an operation by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Judean Desert to find scrolls and other artifacts to prevent possible plundering. The authority planned to hold a news conference later Tuesday to unveil the discovery.
A national project to survey and excavate in the desert caves in the ravines of the Judean Desert has been underway since 2017 under the direction of the Israel Antiquities Authority, in cooperation with the Staff Officer of the Archaeology Department of the IDF Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria. The project is funded by the Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Ministry.
However, the discoveries do not end with the scrolls. Archaeologists also discovered the skeleton of a girl that dates back some 6,000 years, and the oldest intact basket discovered anywhere in the world to date, estimated to be 10,500 years old.
Smaller artifacts, including lice combs, arrowheads, scraps of fabric, and sandals were also excavated.
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