Hebrew University Archeologists Find 12th Dead Sea Scrolls Cave

After years of fruitless searches for further Dead Sea scrolls in caves on the cliffs near the historic body of water, archeologists on Wednesday claimed to have evidence of a 12th cave, which once held hidden scrolls from the Second Temple period.

However, after excavating the ancient hollow, located near the sea’s northwestern shore, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers concluded that the additional scrolls were looted by Bedouin in the middle of the last century.

The archeologists, including Dr. Oren Gutfeld and Ahiad Ovadia from the university’s Institute of Archeology – aided by Dr. Randall Price, and students from Liberty University in Virginia – are the first in more than 60 years to have discovered a new scroll cave.

“Numerous storage jars and lids from the Second Temple period were found hidden in niches along the walls of the cave and deep inside a long tunnel at its rear,” recalled Gutfeld.

“The jars were all broken and their contents removed, and the discovery toward the end of the excavation of a pair of iron pickax heads from the 1950s, stored within the tunnel for later use, proves the cave was looted.”
 

“This exciting excavation is the closest we’ve come to discovering new Dead Sea scrolls in 60 years,” said Gutfeld, who directed the dig. “Until now, it was accepted that Dead Sea scrolls were found only in 11 caves at Qumran, but now there is no doubt that this is the 12th cave.”

Despite not finding more scrolls, Gutfeld said the evidence uncovered in the cave unequivocally confirms it once contained the documents.

“The important discovery of another scroll cave attests to the fact that a lot of work remains to be done in the Judean Desert – and finds of huge importance are still waiting to be discovered,” said Hasson.

“We are in a race against time, as antiquities thieves steal heritage assets worldwide for financial gain. The State of Israel needs to mobilize and allocate the necessary resources in order to launch a historic operation, together with the public, to carry out a systematic excavation of all the caves of the Judean Desert.”

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Hebrew-University-archaeologists-find-12th-Dead-Sea-Scrolls-cave-480966