Three-thousand-year-old cave "stuck in time" discovered in Israel: what was found there

In Israel, during construction work in the Hof Palmachim National Park, workers accidentally stumbled upon an artificial cave that seemed to be stuck in time. It turned out to be full of late Bronze Age artefacts dating back to the thirteenth century BC, meaning that all the items had been in the cave for about 3,300 years and no one had found them or looted them.

According to Live Science, this was a real sensation, because intact tombs are extremely rare, and here they found a tomb from the period of Pharaoh Ramses II, full of well-preserved artefacts of the era. This is explained by the fact that the cave was sealed - there was no entrance to it. The site was discovered only when an excavator broke through its roof.

Dror Citron, an inspector of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was the first to inspect the discovery. He immediately concluded that the square room with a central support column was man-made. Later, Dr Eli Yann, an expert on the Bronze Age at the Antiquities Authority, called the discovery "the set of an Indiana Jones film". Several dozen undamaged ceramic and bronze items were found in the cave. At the same time, they remained in the same order as they were laid out during a funeral rite held here more than three millennia ago.

Among them were deep and shallow bowls, some of which were painted red, cups for drinks, kitchen utensils for cooking and storing food, and lighting lamps. Particular attention was drawn to a scattering of bronze arrowheads or spears, which were lying in such a way that it can be concluded that they were packed in a quiver made of some natural material that had decayed over time. The researchers claim that at that time people believed that all these items would be useful to the buried person in the afterlife.

Interestingly, not all of the items found were local. Some appear to have been made on the coasts of Syria and Lebanon, as well as in Cyprus. All the ceramic remains will be examined for organic residues to find out what could have been stored in them. Scientists hope to learn a lot about the reign of Ramses II, when, according to the Bible, the Jews were able to escape from Egyptian slavery.

As OBOZREVATEL wrote, last year, the tomb of Pharaoh Djoser was reopened to visitors in Egypt. Now visitors can admire the restored tiles with hieroglyphic inscriptions and drawings.