It‘s every archaeologist's dream to find written evidence of the history they’re hoping to uncover. So when an Israeli team of excavators recently found fragments of 2,000-year-old scrolls of the prophets Zechariah and Nahum, the energy was electric.
“There haven’t been biblical scrolls found for over 60 years,” Dr. Joe Uziel, the Head of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) Dead Scroll Unit told Aish.com in an exclusive interview. “Even when such scrolls were found, they were rarely discovered by archaeologists and so this time we had the golden opportunity to see and excavate for ourselves.” The breakthrough came during an epic four-year project to survey and investigate some 550 caves along the Dead Sea valley.
The moment when a team of Israeli archaeologists discover fragments of 2,000-year-old scrolls in a cave near the Dead Sea
The Dead Sea Scrolls
The first of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest Biblical manuscripts ever found, were discovered by Bedouin farmers in 1947, inside several large clay pots in the area of Qumran, on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. The IAA now has in its collection around a thousand such scrolls, composed of 25,000 fragments, the earliest of which date back to the Second Temple period. Among the finds most recently announced were fragments of the books of the prophets Nahum, and Zechariah the last of the prophets, who lived in the 5th century BCE.
The scrolls recently found were written in Greek, which was the lingua franca at the time, however the name of God was written in ancient Hebrew script.
Remnants of the last stand for Jewish Sovereignty
Inextricably connected to the revolt of Shimon Bar Kochba against Roman rule in 132–136 CE, the scrolls found were among items taken by the Jews who fled to the hills and desert to mount a resistance against the Roman Empire in Judaea. It would be the last stand for Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel until the fight for independence in the modern State of Israel. In the end, the rebellion was quashed, although not without with heavy losses for the Romans.
A few years ago, fragments of scroll had been excavated from ‘the cave of horror’, in Nahal Hever, one of the ravines in the Judean desert, a site incredibly hard to reach, who’s location told a dramatic story of the desperate flight from the Romans. The cave gained its notorious name in 1960 when it was first excavated – without modern equipment or much light – and the skeletons of 40 men, women and children were discovered inside. The ruins of a Roman camp laying siege to the cave was also found at the top of the cliff above.
The cave of horror, where Jewish men, women and children hid out until they were starved to death by a Roman siege
Knowing there was probably more history to be uncovered in the cave the IAA planned a mission to fully excavate inside the cave, but the race was on to be the first to do so. “The whole area is a hot spot for looters,” Uziel explained, “As such, the project to survey and reach the cave was conducted on the quiet.”
To reach the cave the team had to scale a cliff edge for 150 meters, and then rappel down a steep slope 15 meters to its mountain face entrance. Inside the search soon began to yield results, with the fragments of scrolls found among layers of sediment and dirt.
Uziel added, “These scrolls, written in a combination of Greek and ancient Hebrew, were among the bare necessities, which the Jews who fled to these caves chose to take with them. Dated anywhere from 50 to possibly hundreds of years old at the time, they were likely passed down through generations, perhaps another reason why they had been so precious to their owners.”
My hands were shaking for days
Dr. Chaim Cohen was among the team of archaeologists in the cave who discovered the fragments. He shared with Aish.com readers the excitement of the moment.
“There was a lot of noise as we worked in the cave, assisted by several archaeology students. We had literally been sifting through every inch of dirt, sediment and earth when one of the students called out, ‘I think I’ve found something.’ A crowd amassed and the buzz increased. It took us all of two minutes to understand that we were looking at the most magnificent archaeological find that any of us had ever encountered.”
Harnessed up, and in precarious conditions, IAA archaeologists sift through sediment at the entrance to the ‘Cave of Horror’ at Nahal Hever.
Cohen’s first instinct was to rush to the entrance of the cave to phone the Head of IAA Organic Laboratory with a rare request to join them at the cave. Explaining the team had found fragments of scrolls, the lab chief arrived at the cave next morning to help with the preservation. “If we didn’t preserve them properly from the moment they were extracted, they would have started to deteriorate.”
“My hands were shaking for two days, and when the head of the lab arrived she started shaking too!” That entire day of gentle excavation and sifting was the most exciting and riveting experience of my career. In total we found over 30 fragments of scroll, many of them forming complete verses from the books by the prophets Zechariah and Nachum.”
Aside from the excavations at the Cave of Horror, the IAA also surveyed some 550 caves stretching from Qumran, in the north of the Dead Sea to Masada near the south. All of them could have offered welcome shade and protection from the Dead Sea Valley’s often scorching temperatures, and provided hideouts for more of Bar Kochba rebels.
The project which has taken almost four years, and is still ongoing, yielded some other incredible finds. “In one cave in the area of Wadi Mubaarat, it was clear we were the first people to have entered this cave since the Bar Kochba rebels had left. We found spearheads, arrowheads, a hoard of coins and a water jar. It was an indescribable feeling to feel the history of our ancestors – and it is such a privilege now, to be able to tell their story, of a handful of Jewish warriors who sat in that cave for a week or two, or however long amid the rebellion.”
Ancient old basket
The same cave also yielded an unexpected additional prize for archaeologists who unearthed a 90 liter wicker basket, dated to as early as 8,000 BCE, the oldest ever found.
“Not only was it incredibly ancient, it was completely intact, and lifting it out of the ground was another moment I will never forget.”
The 90-liter basket unearthed by the Israeli Antiquities Authority. The oldest ever to be found.
For Chaim, life as an archaeologist is an ongoing thrill. His four sons, wait to greet him each evening as he comes home, to ask what he has unearthed that day. “Whether we find coins, spearheads, or fragments of biblical texts – which has been the most exciting – it is amazing for me personally, and equally so, to allow others to also feel the magic of touching the history of their ancestors and the excitement that comes with that.”
The basket partially unearthed.
(5) Elmer Polk, March 25, 2021 6:34 AM
What an amazing find, I was so intrigued by what the images of the discovery.
(4) Marilyn Kirschen, March 20, 2021 4:37 AM
Thank you so much for sharing this exciting discovert
I am so moved by these new discoveries. And I am so proud of our ancestors. Thanks to the archeologists who made these discoveries and to Aish for reporting them.
(3) shirley prescott, March 19, 2021 9:30 PM
Name of Hashem
It should have been mentioned in your article that the writing was Greek except for the Holy One --blessed be He--the Name of Hashem was written in Hebrew which points to the respect all nations and cultures have for the preciousness of retaining the Hebrew for The Name
Stephen Wentworth, March 20, 2021 12:27 PM
NAHUM AND ZECHARIAH
With all respect ( as the kind gentleman mentioned) we should give repect to that Holy Word mentioned in Hebrew, as Malachi 1 says, not to take it in vain by being selfish...
Question: when may we know which.exact verses were found if you please?
Thank you
SW
Adam Ross, March 20, 2021 8:49 PM
Totally agree
Hi Shirley, thank you for your comment, I totally agree with the point you make about Hashem's name being written in Hebrew script and its sihnificance, just to add that this was mentioned in the caption under the picture of the scroll fragments.
(2) David Ben Jesse, March 18, 2021 4:39 PM
Doesn't Aish believe that the world was created 5781 years ago?
I was very surprised to see an article on Aish mention something which dates back 8000 BCE, here is the quote from the article:
"The same cave also yielded an unexpected additional prize for archaeologists who unearthed a 90 liter wicker basket, dated to as early as 8,000 BCE, the oldest ever found."
Sam, March 19, 2021 3:37 AM
I had the same question on another recent article ...
Odd
Adam Ross, March 19, 2021 7:39 AM
Thank you both for your question and comment.
Personally, writing this article and others which do as you say, refer to items that seem earlier than the Torah's date of creation, I did not feel a conflict, although I do acknowledge it is confusing and should have been approached more carefully. The dates look like they are negating the Torah's date for creation which was of course not the intention.
There are many approaches to the question of understanding dates suggested by science and archaeology and those stated in the Torah. The Rambam understands the Genesis version of creation as
allegorical yet this is also challenged by many as well.
Some understand the length of the first six days differently to those that came next, others understand them literally yet invite us to the world of quantum physics to see that a scientific approach can also square with the date of the universe as 5781. I attach an article by Dr. Gerald Schroeder on this here:
https://www.aish.com/ci/sam/The-Age-of-the-Universe-One-Reality-Viewed-from-Two-Different-Perspectives.html
In understanding archaeological claims of a man made basket dated to 10,000 years, I am reminded of a statement of the Torah translator Onkelos, who, almost 2,000 years ago, describes Adam as being given a speaking spirit - with a fully consciousness spiritual being. Perhaps we can suggest that there were previous beings, without such a capacity.
Another approach is that Hashem made the world complete, and so things can look a lot older than they seem - see the following article: https://www.aish.com/ci/sam/Age-of-the-Universe-One-Approach.html
Of course there is also the distinct possibility that science significantly errs in its dates.
(1) Arin, March 18, 2021 4:29 PM
"Greek, which was the lingua franca at the time"?
"The scrolls recently found were written in Greek, which was the lingua franca at the time, however the name of God was written in ancient Hebrew script."? Wasn't Aramaic and Hebrew the main language in Israel, not Greek? Greek was not the lingua franca of Galilee. Thanks
Adam Ross, March 18, 2021 11:07 PM
Greek and Aramaic
Dear Arin, thanks for your comment. It also surprised me to hear Greek described as the lingua franca.
The Greeks conquered Judea in around 330 BCE and stamped their culture and language over the empire. These scrolls were dated to around 100 BCE at the earliest, when Greek would have been a major language spoken. (From what I understand, even after the Roman conquest in 63 BCE Greek remained one of the official languages of the empire along with Latin.) During the Greek empire, there had also been a widespread move to have Hebrew texts translated into Greek. Your point about Aramaic is well made, that it is documented as being the overwhelming spoken language of Judea, perhaps we are to assume , certainly from the archaeologist I interviewed for this piece, that there was a period when, the Greek language rose to greater dominance, if not for all of Judea, then perhaps in parts.
Rachel, March 19, 2021 3:21 PM
Languages
I am not a linguistics scholar, but from what I have read, Greek was the language of the Greater Mediterranean at that time, and Hebrew has always been the language of Jewish scripture and prayer, while Aramaic was a dialect of many Judean Jews of the time. By analogy, a mid-20th century American Jewish community would have both immigrant and US-born members who all spoke English, Hebrew scripture and prayer, and a large number of Yiddish speakers who spoke that language amongst themselves.