Usually, when Red Sea and archaeology come up in discussion, one expects to hear the phrase “Dead Sea Scrolls” not far behind. A recent finding is a curve ball where this rule is assumed:
Archaeologists in Israel have discovered four Roman-era swords in a cave near the Dead Sea. Even at roughly 1,900 years old, the artifacts are “exceptionally well preserved,” according to a statement from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), which announced the find earlier this week.
The swords have wooden and leather hilts, and their steel blades are all between 60 and 65 centimeters (24 and 26 inches) long. The researchers haven’t yet carbon-dated the weapons—or the head of a javelin (known as a pilum) found alongside them—but they think the artifacts came from a Jewish uprising against the Romans in the 130s C.E. They published their preliminary findings in a new book, New Studies in the Archaeology of the Judean Desert: Collected Papers. source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-uncover-four-roman-swords-in-israeli-cave-180982869/
The conclusion this article draws seems hasty. Why is it every weapon ever found is from the Bar Kokhba revolt? It is, arguably, the most romanticized rebellion, and perhaps one of the more tragic ones, but the caves were there for a long time, and people resisting Rome were probably in them for large swaths of time–and maybe some of them were not even Israeli? Maybe Romans stashed their swords to come back and find later? The article goes on:
The items probably weren’t made locally, as Guy Stiebel, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University specializing in Roman military history, tells Ilan Ben Zion of the Associated Press (AP). Instead, they were likely forged in a faraway European province, traveling vast distances alongside their owners.
“Each one of them can tell you an entire story,” Stiebel tells the AP. “They also reflect a much grander narrative of the entire Roman Empire.” The fact that “a small cave in a very remote place on the edge of the empire” can shed light on that narrative “is the greatest joy that the scientist can have,” he adds.
Researchers hypothesize that Jewish rebels seized the swords from the Roman army and hid them in the cave during the Bar Kokhba revolt, a Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire that took place between 132 and 135 C.E. It was ultimately unsuccessful; the Jews suffered heavy losses, and in the revolt’s aftermath, they were subject to severe persecution. source: ibid
It’s possible it was from that revolt, or maybe it was Roman’s revolting against the army. The article concludes in a peculiar way:
“Finding a single sword is rare—so four?” say the researchers in the IAA’s statement. “It’s a dream! We rubbed our eyes to believe it.” source: ibid
I understand that they are excited to find these items, but is it really a dream to find a stash of Roman weapons? It is certainly cool to find anything at all, but a “dream” would be finding another Dead Sea Scroll that had been lost to time…