Summary: Four well-preserved Roman swords were recently found in a Judean cave and date back almost 2,000 years to the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)
More Discoveries in a Judean Cave
Archaeologists have discovered four nearly 2,000-year-old Roman swords in a cave in the Judean Desert. Experts believe the weapons were hidden in the narrow rock crevice after being captured by Judean rebels during the Bar Kokhba revolt. The swords are linked to a significant time in the history of Israel that may confirm Biblical prophecies.
“We’re talking about an extremely rare find, the likes of which have never been found in Israel. Four swords, amazingly preserved, including the fine condition of the metal, the handles, and the scabbards,” said Dr. Eitan Klein, one of the directors of the Judean Desert Survey by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) in a video announcing the discovery.
The swords were found in a cave well known to archeologists near Ein Gedi National Park, close to the Dead Sea. There has been a previous discovery in the cave of a stalactite with a fragmentary ink inscription written in ancient Hebrew script, characteristic of the First Temple period.
Specialists Dr. Asaf Gayer of Ariel University, geologist Boaz Langford of Hebrew University, and IAA photographer Shai Halevi had returned to the cave for additional multispectral photography of the stalactite in order to decipher parts of the inscription not visible to the naked eye.
While exploring further in the cave, Gayer spotted an extremely well-preserved Roman sword inside a deep, narrow crack in the rock. He also found pieces of carved wood in an adjacent niche that turned out to be parts of the sword’s scabbard, a sheath used for holding an edged weapon.
The exceptional find was reported to the IAA and resulted in the Judean Desert Archaeological Survey Team returning for further exploration. The Survey Team is currently conducting a multi-year comprehensive survey of more than 800 caves in the Judean Desert in an effort to find and preserve archaeological remains before they can be looted.
During the Survey Team’s visit, they discovered three more swords, in addition to the one found by Gayer. These weapons were found with the blades still inside their scabbards. Researchers also found ornate handles made of wood and metal with leather strips nearby.
The Judean Desert has the perfect dry climate needed to preserve fragile artifacts that might otherwise be lost to the effects of time. Materials such as leather and wood are rarely found in less arid parts of the country.
Swords from the Bar Kokhba Revolt
Three of the swords are Roman spatha swords, with blades 23.5 to 25.5 inches long. The fourth, a ring-pommel sword, is shorter, with an 18-inch blade. The swords likely belonged to Roman soldiers and may have been stolen by Judean rebels, who hid them in the cave either for later use or to avoid being caught with them.
“The blades have been preserved so well, they look like they could be picked up and used right now, even 2,000 years after they were forged,” said Langford. “You just realize that you are touching history, because here you are touching a find whose story you know.”
The Bar Kokhba Revolt, AD 132-135, was a Jewish rebellion against Roman rule in Judea that briefly established an independent Jewish state. Led by Simon Bar Kokhba, it was the last of three major Jewish-Roman wars. Archaeologists believe that it was during this time that the swords were hidden in the cave.
“This is a very rare and unique find on an international level that will shed light on the last moments of the war between the Jewish rebels and the Roman army at the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt,” said Klein.
During the revolt, many caves in Judea, and other parts of Israel were used by the Jewish resistance. After the war, Emperor Hadrian sought to erase the memory of Judea or Ancient Israel and replaced it on the maps with Syria Palaestina. After this final revolt, Jewish people were largely barred from Jerusalem and what was Judea.
Bar Kokhba and Biblical Prophecy
Some of the rabbinic scholars in his day imagined Simon Bar Kokhba to be the long-expected Messiah of Biblical prophecy. At the time Jewish Christians regarded Jesus as the Messiah and did not support Bar Kokhba. However, they were barred from Jerusalem along with the Jews. Many of the Christians survived by heeding Jesus’ prediction and leaving Jerusalem as it was being surrounded.
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” – Luke 21:20-24
The effects from the Bar Kokhba revolt were even more devastating to the Jewish population than the first revolt against Rome in AD 70 that resulted in the destruction of the Temple. During the Bar Kokhba event a much larger Roman army was involved than 60 years earlier; ten legions (nearly a third of the entire Roman army) with troops coming from as far as the Danube and Britain. Much of the Jewish population was killed or taken into slavery. Roman historian Cassius Dio reported that 580,000 Jewish men were killed in battle, “and the number of those that perished by famine, disease and fire was past finding out. Thus nearly the whole of Judaea was made desolate,” (History of Rome, 69.14.1-2). Ancient sources indicate that the price of slaves plummeted because of the huge influx of Jewish slaves to the market. They were indeed “led captive among all nations.”
Some have connected the two destructions of Jerusalem in AD 70 and 134 with the earlier prediction by Moses that Israel would face hard judgments for breaking the covenant with their God – they would face defeat and destruction before being scattered to the four corners of the earth. The first wave of these defeats and scatterings occurred in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah at the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonions. A greater defeat and more widespread scattering would come from the Roman owners of the recently discovered swords.
…“The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away… And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away… All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.” – Deuteronomy 28:15-68
After being uniquely persecuted beyond normal reasoning, God promised that this was not the end of the story, another significant event would take place in the future.
“… then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you… And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.” – Deuteronomy 30:1-5
Judean Desert Cave Survey
The Judean Desert Cave Survey started in 2017 and so far, has helped archaeologists discover at least 20 new caves. The ambitious survey involves physically daring operations such as rappelling down rock faces and setting up work camps on sheer cliffs. Out of the 600-plus Judean caves already mapped out using drone technology, 100 have left to be explored.
“Now we know what’s happening in 500 caves; what’s worth saving, what’s worth inspecting further, what to leave,” said Amir Ganor, the head of the IAA’s anti-theft unit. The team is using a mix of hi-tech surveillance methods to monitor the promising caves. Another 25 percent of the desert still needs to be surveyed.
The cave survey is being undertaken by the IAA in cooperation with the Archaeology Department of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, and has been funded in part by the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage.
The preliminary article on the swords is published in the volume, “New Studies in the Archaeology of the Judean Desert: Collected Papers,” which explores new archaeological finds discovered in the Judean Desert Survey Project.
Other Recent Cave Discoveries
Another important discovery that happened earlier this year was of a rare half-shekel coin minted by rebels during the Bar Kokhba revolt, as part of a fledgling Jewish economy. The coin has the inscription “Holy Jerusalem” engraved on it along with three pomegranates.
In 2021, archaeologists announced that more fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls were uncovered in one of the caves, some 60 years after the last major scroll discoveries. The ancient Dead Sea Scrolls were first found by Bedouin shepherds in 1946 and contained scrolls dating from 400 BC to AD 300.
Conclusion
Following the discovery of the swords, archaeologists carried out an extensive excavation of the cave, discovering more artifacts from the Roman period and even some from the Chalcolithic period, normally dated around 6,000 years ago.
“This is a dramatic and exciting discovery, touching on a specific moment in time,” said Eli Escusido, director of the IAA. Because of the desert climate the area is a “unique time capsule” where it is possible to find “fragments of scrolls, coins from the Jewish Revolt, leather sandals — and now even swords in their scabbards, sharp as if they had only just been hidden away today.”
These finds continue to add to our knowledge of the ancient world while helping to confirm the messages of the Bible.
Keep Thinking!
TOP PHOTO: Archaeologists remove the swords from the rock crevice where they were hidden some 1,900 years ago in a cave in the Judean Desert. (credit: Emil Aladjem/IAA)
