Archaeology

Archaeology provides valuable information about the Bar-Kokhba Revolt, supplementing the meager information from our historical sources. The most important finds were made in the wake of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (see Chapter 6). After the discovery of the first scrolls in caves around Qumran, Bedouins broadened their search for scrolls around the Dead Sea, eventually crossing into Israeli territory around Ein Gedi. As a result, an Israeli expedition was organized in 1960—61 to explore the southwest shore of the Dead Sea between Ein Gedi and Masada (see Figure 6.1). The rugged cliffs along the shoreline are cut by deep riverbeds (canyons) that empty into the Dead Sea. The Israelis divided the canyons among different teams of archaeologists. Yigael Yadin was assigned the great canyon of Nahal Hever, which yielded spectacular finds from the time of the Bar-Kokhba Revolt. These finds came from two caves: the Cave of Letters on the north bank of the canyon, and the Cave of Horror on the south bank. Access to both caves is difficult and sometimes treacherous, along narrow, uneven paths perched above steep drops of hundreds of feet to the riverbed below. As former chief of staff, Yadin used his connections

12.1 View of Nahal David at Ein Gedi, looking west.

With the Israeli army to have equipment airlifted to the remote desert location by helicopters. Excavation inside the caves was just as challenging because of the stifling heat, lack of air, and suffocating clouds of fine dust and bat guano churned up by even the slightest movement.

During the Bar-Kokhba Revolt, Jewish families from Ein Gedi fled their homes and hid from the Romans in nearby caves. Nahman Avigad, another member of the Israeli team whose assignment was to explore Nahal David at Ein Gedi, discovered a cave in the uppermost reaches of this canyon. Avigad called it the Cave of the Pool because the refugees constructed a cistern for storing water by the entrance. to the water supply and the cave's remote, well-hidden location, the refugees left the cave while still alive and took with them their personal possessions. For this reason, the Cave of the Pool was relatively poor in archaeological finds. The Jewish families who took refuge in the Cave of Letters and Cave of Horror in Nahal Hever were not so lucky. Their location was discovered by the Romans, who besieged the caves. Without a water supply (as in the Cave of the Pool) or access to water, the refugees starved to death inside the caves. Their physical remains and personal belongings remained in the caves, discovered 2,000 years later. In fact, the Cave of Horror is so called because when Yadin's team first entered it, they found ancient woven baskets filled with skulls and other skeletal parts. Apparently these remains were collected by relatives of the refugee families, who presumably visited the caves after the revolt ended.

12.2 Wooden plate and bowl from the Cave of Letters, Judean desert, second century C. E. Collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

When Yadin began his excavations in the Cave of Letters and Cave of Horror, he found that the Bedouins had preceded him, as indicated by cigarette wrappers and other modern litter. We do not know what the Bedouins removed from these caves. Fortunately, however, the Jewish refugees had carefully deposited their most prized possessions in hiding places around the caves. These were discovered by Yadin's team, and they include a wide range of artifacts that shed light on everyday Jewish life during the Roman period. to the arid desert environment, artifacts made of perishable organic materials, such as wood, cloth, woven baskets, and leather, survived (the same conditions preserved the Dead Sea Scrolls in the caves around Qumran farther to the north).

Most of the finds — and the most important finds — come from the Cave of Letters. They include wooden bowls and plates, the shapes of which resemble the pottery vessels so commonly found on archaeological excavations. The wooden dishes were well used, as indicated by the knife marks showing they had been scraped clean repeatedly. There was also a set of kitchen knives in different sizes, with their wooden handles still attached. Exquisite glass plates that had been treasured by their owners were wrapped carefully in palm fibers.  to the arid environment the surface is transparent, not encrusted with the shimmery patina that commonly covers ancient glass. A rare cache of nineteen bronze vessels, including bowls, jugs, and incense shovels, was wrapped and

12.3 Glass plates from the Cave of Letters, Judean desert with their original palm fiber wrapping, second century C. E. Collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Hidden in a woven basket. The high quality and figured decoration indicate that these vessels were made in Italy and brought to Judea, presumably by a Roman soldier. Yadin suggested that a Jewish contingent took the vessels as spoils after ambushing Roman troops. The Jews then defaced the figures by rubbing out the features. This ancient damage is evident on a bronze patera (a handled bowl for pouring liquid offerings called libations) from the cache, which has a medallion showing Thetis, the sea nymph who was the mother of the Greek hero Achilles.

The finds from the Cave of Letters also included women's toiletry items, such as a wooden jewelry box closed with a small latch (which unfortunately was empty), and a mirror in its original wooden case. Like other ancient mirrors, this one is not made of glass but instead consists of a polished, thin bronze disc. One of the most poignant discoveries is a set of keys, indicating that these Jewish families had locked their houses before taking refuge in the cave. The keys are crooked and have teeth because they worked by lifting a deadbolt on the inside of the door out of its place.

A number of pieces of clothing were also found in the Cave of Letters, consisting mostly of tunics and mantles. Tunics and mantles were the standard articles of clothing worn by men and women throughout the Roman world. The mantle — a type of cloak worn over the tunic — consisted of a large rectangular sheet (Greek

12.4 Bronze jugs from the Cave of Letters, Judean desert, second century C. E. Collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Himation; Latin pallium; Hebrew tallit or me'il). In contrast, the Roman toga had a curved hem and was a ceremonial garment restricted to male citizens. The tunic (Greek chiton; Hebrew haluq) was a rectangular piece of cloth with two parallel bands or stripes (clavi) of a different color that descended from the shoulder and indicated the wearer's rank. The length of the tunic varied depending on the wearer. For example, soldiers and slaves wore tunics at or above the knee to allow for mobility, whereas women and priests wore ankle-length tunics. Slits were left in the tunic for the head and arms. Sleeves could be added separately or formed by making the tunic wide and baggy. Tunics could be worn loose or belted at the waist (usually with cord, except for soldiers, who had leather belts). Wearing a belt allowed the tunic to be draped at different lengths.

Except for one linen child's shirt or tunic, the tunics and mantles from the Cave of Letters are made of wool, some of them dyed in different colors and patterns. Although both men and women wore the same articles of clothing, women tended to dress more colorfully. Women also gathered their hair into hairnets, remains of which were found in the Cave of Letters. The clothing from the Cave of Letters provides a valuable glimpse into the appearance of the local Jewish population. There are even examples of footwear, consisting of strapped leather sandals with a thong separating the large toe from the others, which appear strikingly contemporary in design.

12.5 Wool mantle from the Cave of Letters, second century C. E. Collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Whereas the Jews who took refuge in the Cave of Letters wore wool garments, full members of the Qumran sect seem to have clothed themselves in linen tunics and mantles. Linen garments are usually plain (white) because linen is difficult to dye. The clothing of the Essenes — like other aspects of their lifestyle — was adopted from the priests in the Jerusalem temple, who wore all-linen garments. The Essenes even wore a linen loincloth under the tunic, an item that was worn by the Jerusalem priests to prevent the exposure of the genitals when they ascended the altar to offer sacrifices. Most people in the Roman world — including Jews — wore nothing under their tunics (similar to Scottish kilts).

The finds from the Cave of Letters include ancient scrolls that provide valuable information about the Bar-Kokhba Revolt. In contrast to the Dead Sea Scrolls

12.6 Bar-Kokhba letter from the Cave of Letters, requesting the four species. Courtesy of Zev Radovan/BibleLandPictures. com.

From Qumran, the scrolls from the Cave of Letters are personal documents that belonged to individuals who took refuge in the cave. Most are written on papyrus (whereas nearly all of the Dead Sea Scrolls are of parchment), and they are in a variety of languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, Nabataean, and Greek. Among the documents are letters that were written by Bar-Kokhba to his commanders and followers at Ein Gedi and elsewhere. For example, one letter opens: “From Simeon Bar Kosiba to the people of Ein Gedi, shalom (peace)." In another letter, Bar-Kokhba requests that palm branches, citrons, myrtles, and willows — the four species used for celebrating the holiday of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) — be sent to him. These documents supplement our meager historical information about the Bar-Kokhba revolt and shed light on the revolt's leader. In fact, it was from these documents that we first learned his real name, as historical sources use nicknames (Bar-Kokhba [son of a star] or Bar-Koziba [son of a liar or deceiver]).

The scrolls from the Cave of Letters also shed light on the lives of the individuals who took refuge in the cave and ultimately died there. They include a remarkable woman named Babatha, who came from a village at the southern end of the Dead Sea, in Nabataea. Babatha's second husband, Yehudah (Judah), was from Ein Gedi, which is the reason she ended up in the Cave of Letters with the other refugees. Babatha was an educated and an illiterate but savvy woman who kept all her personal documents (thirty-five documents, including a marriage contract and deeds to land) neatly organized and tied in a bundle. Yehudah had died several years before the Bar-Kokhba Revolt broke out. From the documents we learn that Babatha was involved in lengthy litigation with members of Yehudah's family (including his other wife, Miriam) over his property. The Babatha archive helps fill a gap in our knowledge about the lives of women in the Roman East.

The families that took refuge in the Cave of Letters seem to have been prosperous villagers, judging from their possessions and personal documents.

12.7 Darom oil lamps. Courtesy of Zev Radovan/BibleLandPictures. com.

After the Romans discovered the caves, they established two siege camps at the edges of the cliffs just above each cave. Not only did these camps block potential escape routes, but they also provided views of the cave in the opposite cliff, enabling the Romans to monitor the movements of the besieged. Unable to escape the caves or bring in food and water, the families starved to death, only to have their remains and personal possessions discovered by Yadin's team two thousand years later.

Material Culture Oil Lamps

The pottery types that were common in Judea before 70 C. E. continued with few changes in the following decades. However, Herodian oil lamps were replaced by a new type: Darom (southern) oil lamps. Darom lamps are similar in shape to Herodian oil lamps, having a round body with short, flaring nozzle. But unlike Herodian oil lamps, which are wheel-made and plain, Darom lamps are mold-made and decorated. The decoration consists of delicate, linear designs, including floral and geometric motifs such as grapevines and grape bunches, and objects from everyday life such as agricultural implements and household vessels. Jewish ritual objects such as menorahs (seven-branched candelabra) are also depicted. A small, raised round handle is attached to the back of the lamp.

12.8 Bar-Kokhba coins. Courtesy of Zev Radovan/BibleLandPictures. com.