A rare cache of weapons from the Roman period found stashed away in a cave in the Judean Desert

A sensational find in the Judean Desert: a cache of four 1,900-year-old, excellently preserved Roman swords and a shafted weapon were discovered in a crevice in a cave in the ‘En Gedi Nature Reserve. It appears that the weapons were hidden by the Judean rebels, after they were seized from the Roman army as booty. “Finding a single sword is rare—so four? It’s a dream! We rubbed our eyes to believe it,” say the researchers. The rare weapons were exhibited for the first time in the press conference that took place this morning, with Eli Escusido, the Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the researchers. This conference is part of the launching of the book ‘New Studies in the Archaeology of the Judean Desert: Collected Papers’, devoted to new archaeological finds discovered in the Judean Desert Survey Project. The weapons were discovered in a small hidden cave located in an area of isolated and inaccessible cliffs north of ‘En Gedi, in the Judean Desert Nature Reserve, under the jurisdiction