Cave of Letters - Discovery

Discovery

It was first discovered by Bedouin of the Ta`amireh tribe and then it was explored in 1953 and 1955 by the then inspector of the Israel Department of Antiquities, Y. Aharoni. After the sale of some letters written by Bar-Kokhba, found in the caves of a canyon called Wadi Murraba`at, 18 km south of the Qumran caves and 3 km from the Dead Sea, an expedition was put together in 1953 to explore these caves. However the expedition instead went to Nahal Hever where there were reports of Bedouin activity. Upon arriving the team noticed that, directly above the cave now known as the Cave of Letters, was the remnants of a Roman siege camp. Another camp on the southern side of the ravine was also over a cave. In the Cave of Letters were Chalcolithic remains from the 4th millennium as well as artifacts from the period of Roman occupation. Further exploration of the cave was abandoned because of some boulders obstructing access to other parts of the cave, as well as the fact that the cave had already been explored by the Bedouins. It was not until 1960, when some more documents from the Bar-Kokhba Revolt were sold to scholars in Jordan, that the Israeli government approved an “all-out archeological offensive” . With the assistance of the Israeli Defense Forces, 4 groups of scientists and qualified experts began their exploration of the desert on March 23, 1960 with a two week deadline. Yigael Yadin led a team to search the northern side of the ravine at Nahal Hever.

Read more about this topic:  Cave Of Letters

Famous quotes containing the word discovery:

    That the discovery of this great truth, which lies so near and obvious to the mind, should be attained to by the reason of so very few, is a sad instance of the stupidity and inattention of men, who, though they are surrounded with such clear manifestations of the Deity, are yet so little affected by them, that they seem as it were blinded with excess of light.
    George Berkeley (1685–1753)

    We early arrive at the great discovery that there is one mind common to all individual men: that what is individual is less than what is universal ... that error, vice and disease have their seat in the superficial or individual nature.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    However backwards the world has been in former ages in the discovery of such points as GOD never meant us to know,—we have been more successful in our own days:Mthousands can trace out now the impressions of this divine intercourse in themselves, from the first moment they received it, and with such distinct intelligence of its progress and workings, as to require no evidence of its truth.
    Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)