Roman Iron Swords, hidden by Bar Kiochba rebels 1,900 years ago, were recognized by National Georaphic as the top archaeological find for 2023. Some see the announcement as an omen, foretelling the victory of Israel in Operation Iron Sword; the war against Hamas.
At the top of the list of seven archaeological finds was the discovery of four remarkably well-preserved Roman swords that were discovered in June in an area of isolated and inaccessible cliffs north of the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve in the Judean Desert. The swords, forged sometime between the first and the third centuries CE, were probably hidden there by Jewish rebels during the Bar Kokhba revolt, between 132 and 136 CE after they collected them from a battlefield or stolen them from Roman units.
“The ancient weapons were secreted behind a wall of stalactites deep inside the cave in the Judean Desert southeast of Jerusalem sometime in the 2nd or 3rd century [CE], a period when the region was both a battlefield for Roman troops and a refuge for Jewish rebels,” National Geographic wrote.
The cache of weapons included four long (measuring 60 to 65 cm) and straight (spatha) swords and a javelin head. The initial examination confirmed that these were standard swords the Roman soldiers stationed in Judea in the Roman period employed.
“The hiding of the swords and the pilum in deep cracks in the isolated cave north of Ein Gedi hints that the weapons were taken as booty from Roman soldiers or the battlefield and purposely hidden by the Judean rebels for reuse,” said Dr. Eitan Klein, one of the directors of the Judean Desert Survey Project.
The The 1,900-year-old swords were found with their hilts and scabbards intact which was quite unusual as wood and leather usually rot quickly. It is believed that the organic elements of the hilts and scabbards were preserved by the dry environment.
The researchers who found the weapons were stunned at the discovery.
“Finding a single sword is rare—so four? It’s a dream! We rubbed our eyes to believe it,” they stated.
“These are among the best—if not the best preserved—Roman swords with scabbards that have ever been found,” says University of Leicester archaeologist Simon James, author of Rome and the Sword: How Warriors and Weapons Shaped Roman History.
One of the IAA staff said it was possible that in their continuing examinations of the weapons, they might detect DNA on them that would provide even more incredible details.
Some people found the announcement to be especially as it came during the holiday of Hanukkah commemorating the victory of the Jewish Maccabees over the Greek Selecids. Hillel Fuld wrote about the discovery on his Facebook page.
“Ya know what would be really nice?” Fuld wrote. “If we could get a nice sign from the Big Boss that everything will be ok. If only He could reassure us that in Iron Swords (the name of the war), we are going to come out victorious.”
“I mean, we know it and some of us do see signs but they’re subtle. A strong sign would be nice, wouldn’t it? Maybe just a head nod and a message, ‘Got you!’
“You asked and you shall receive,” Fuld stated. “National Geographic has just announced the discovery of iron swords in a cave in the Judean Desert as the dramatic archaeological find of 2023. The iron swords were hidden by Jewish rebels during the revolt against the Roman empire 2,000 years ago.”
“You cannot make this stuff up.”
“Thank you, Hashem. Your message has been received loud and clear!”The other top finds were a giant stone head called a moai on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, in the Pacific Ocean, a previously unknown Maya city on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, the underwater remains of a 2,000-year-old temple discovered off the coast of Puteoli Italy, two workshops for mummification at the Saqqara necropolis in Egypt, dozens of carved gemstones depicting Roman gods and animals discovered at Carlisle in the north of England, and the wreck of the Montevideo Maru, a Japanese transport ship that sank in 1942 with more than a thousand Allied prisoners-of-war on board.
