Israeli archaeologists have discovered new fragments of a Dead Sea manuscript in the Judean Desert, first find of its kind in 60 years.
The newly revealed scroll, written primarily in Greek – and not as usual in Hebrew and Aramaic – contains parts of the book of the 12 Minor Prophets, including Zechariah and Nahum, reports the Israeli Antiquities Authority, quoted by Haaretz.
The new discovery is likely a missing part of a scroll of the minor prophets discovered in 1952 that contains Micah’s prophecy about the end of days and the rise of a ruler of Bethlehem.
Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest testimony to the Biblical text found to date. They are a collection of 972 manuscripts and most date from the year 250 BC. C. until the year 66 d. A., Before the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70. C.
In the same excavation works, archaeologists have discovered what may be the oldest surviving basket in the world.
Made of woven reed, the basket, complete with lid, no less, is more than 10,500 years old, according to radiocarbon dating by Professor Elisabetta Boaretto of the Weizmann Institute of Sciences in Rehovot, the IAA said. That is the Neolithic period, before the arrival of pottery in the region (pottery originated much earlier in East Asia).
Like many later scrolls, the basket survived all these years due to the remarkable heat and aridity of its location – the Muraba’at Caves in the Nahal Darga Reserve. In addition, it was large with a capacity of about 90 to 100 liters, suggesting archaeologists that it may have been used for storage. However, there was no rubble in it to indicate what it might have stored.
Surveyors also found the naturally mummified remains of a small boy, likely a girl, wrapped in cloth, as if a blanket had been placed over him or her, they said. Complete with hair, the body dates back about 6,000 years, about four millennia older than the scrolls. L.The creature, curled up in a fetal position, was apparently between 6 and 12 years old, according to a preliminary scan by Dr. Hila May from Tel Aviv University.
Archaeologists also found a supply of coins from the days of Bar Kochba’s unfortunate revolt against the Romans in AD 133-135. The coins bear the typical Jewish symbols of the time, such as a harp and a date palm.
Working in three teams under IAA officers Oriah Amichai, Hagay Hamer and Haim Cohen, the researchers also discovered arrowheads and spears, woven fabrics, sandals, and even lice combs from the rebellion era.