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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GUSTAVE JAEGER who wrote (17896)	11/23/2002 8:04:22 AM
From: lorne	Respond to of 23908

Bar Kochba-era artifacts discovered in cave near Dead Sea By Debbie Berman November 22, 2002 Israeli archeologists this week announced their discovery of rare artifacts from the Bar Kochba period in a remote desert cave near the Dead Sea. The findings, including two papyrus documents and coins inscribed with the name "Shimon," are the first new significant discoveries in the Judean Desert since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls over fifty years ago. According to Dr. Zvika Tzuk, Chief Archaeologist of the Nature and Parks Authority, the artifacts confirm theories that Jewish rebels fleeing from the Romans used to hide in desert caves in the Ein Gedi region even through the Bar Kochba era. Shimon Bar-Kochba led a revolt against the Romans from 132 CE to 135 CE. This was "indicated by what we found there, especially the coins on which we found the name Shimon, who was the leader of the rebellion at the time... We also found arrows, pieces of material, and more," Tzuk said. Dr. Amos Frumkin, who led the project sponsored by Stanford University with Bar-Ilan's Prof. Hanan Eshel, said that whatever the papyrus scrolls contained, the find was a very exciting breakthrough in Israeli archeology. The Dead Sea Scrolls were uncovered in a cave in Qumran near the Dead Sea in 1947. Archeologists conducted thorough excavations in the area for the next decade, producing some nine hundred scrolls from eleven different caves. In 1993, an additional batch of documents was found in the Jericho area. The Dead Sea Scrolls are believed to be dated from the third century BCE to 68 CE, left behind by an ascetic Jewish sect called the Essenes who inhabited Qumran. "These documents probably aren't directly connected with the Dead Sea Scrolls found further to the north near Qumran," Frumkin said of the new discovery. "But the very fact that after all these years, we have found a previously undiscovered cave with such artifacts proves there still could be more out there we don't yet know about." The recently uncovered artifacts were found in a cave located in a remote area of the Ein Gedi Nature Preserve during an archeological survey, utilizing aerial photography and electronic surveillance equipment. The cave was very difficult to access; archeologists had to use rappelling equipment to gain entrance. "After two generations during which we didn't discover anything, this find is very important," Tzuk said, adding that until careful study and analysis are done on the papyruses he could not predict what they contained: "They could be business contracts, marriage documents, or something else; they could have names of places; it's a total riddle, and our curiosity is great." The documents have been transferred to the Israel Museum where research is expected to begin within the next few weeks. Archeologists have made similar discoveries dating from the Jewish revolt in secluded caves in other parts of Israel. These caves are also believed to have been used by Bar-Kochba's rebel army as hiding places from the Roman forces. web.israelinsider.com;