Ancient Biblical Fragments Discovered in Cave of Horror

Israeli researchers have uncovered ancient biblical fragments in the Cave of Horror, an 80-meter-deep cavity in the Judean Desert south of Jerusalem. The cave earned its name from 40 human skeletons found during excavations in the 1960s. Using ropes and drones, the team retrieved fragments from the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets, dating back 2,000 years. The text, written in Greek with the word "God" in paleo-Hebrew, includes verses from Zechariah. Oren Ableman, a researcher at the Israel Antiquities Authority, noted a textual difference unparalleled in any other manuscript. Joe Uziel, head of the Dead Sea Scrolls unit, emphasized that the biblical text was not static. Other finds include coins from the Bar Kokhba revolt against Rome, a 6,000-year-old child skeleton, a 10,500-year-old basket—among the oldest of its kind—and numerous organic materials preserved by the arid climate. The excavation is part of a four-year campaign to combat looting of archaeological sites in the Judean Desert. Amir Ganor, head of the antiquities theft prevention unit, stated that for the first time in 70 years, looters have been thwarted since the operation began in 2017. Previous excavations in the 1960s led by Israeli archaeologist Yohanan Aharoni had uncovered nine parchment fragments.