Scholars believe that both the message and the four swords found alongside it may have something to do with the Bar Kokhba Revolt that pitted the Jews against the Romans between 132 and 135 C.E.
Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities AuthorityThe Dead Sea cave where archaeologists documented the inscription.
In 2023, a group of archaeologists climbed inside a cliffside cave overlooking the Dead Sea to investigate an ancient carving on a stalactite, a previously-documented 2,700-year-old inscription from the First Temple period. But hile there, they noticed another inscription carved into the rock right underneath it.
Dating back 1,900 years, this Aramaic message remains shrouded in mystery, though it may have a connection to the bloody Bar Kokhba Revolt, when Jewish people rose up against the Romans in the second century C.E.
The inscription, as well as the discovery of four ancient swords in the cave’s crevices, suggests that it may have served as a hideout for rebels during the revolt between 132 and 136 C.E.
Discovering The Ancient Aramaic Inscription Inside A Dead Sea Cave
The discovery of the new inscription inside this Dead Sea cave came about entirely by chance. According to a Facebook post from the Israel Antiquities Authority in 2023, when the discovery of the swords was first announced, a team had indeed gone to the caves to photograph the Hebrew inscription from the First Temple period, which had been carved into a stalactite. The team hoped that, using multispectral imaging, they could decipher parts of the inscription that were invisible to the naked eye.
While there, they stumbled upon this second, unrelated inscription, written in Aramaic and carved faintly into the lower part of the stalactite.
Asaf GayerThis inscription, previously undocumented, is written in Aramaic and dates back to the second century C.E.
This small chunk of text, which is just 3.15 inches by 1.38 inches, is written in a square Hebrew script — similar to modern-day Hebrew — that emerged after the sixth century B.C.E.
It reads, in part: “Abba of Naburya has perished.” Researchers have not yet deciphered the entire inscription, but they have discovered a few individual words, including “on us,” “he took,” and “the.”
For now, researchers aren’t sure about the identity of “Abba of Naburya.” “Abba” was a common Jewish name in the first few centuries C.E., and “Naburya” was a village near Galilea. That said, researchers suspect that the inscription dates back to the 2nd century C.E., likely during the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
The Inscription’s Possible Link To The Bar Kokhba Revolt
Based on the style of the script, and the language it employs, researchers believe that it dates back to the first or second century C.E. As such, it could possibly date to the First Jewish Revolt (66 to 73 C.E.) the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132 and 136 C.E.) or the years between the two uprisings.
However, researchers also found other clues in the cave that suggest the inscription was related to the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
Public DomainSimon bar Kokhba, the Jewish leader who initiated the rebellion against Roman rule in 132 C.E.
Near the inscription, archaeologists found a Bar Kokhba coin — as well as four Roman swords. The swords were hidden in a crevice, and were extremely well-preserved, with three of them still tucked inside wooden scabbards. Because the cave is so small, researchers suspect that it was used as a launching point for raids, rather than a place for habitation.
“The hiding of the swords and the pilum in deep cracks in the isolated cave north of ‘En Gedi, hints that the weapons were taken as booty from Roman soldiers or from the battlefield, and purposely hidden by the Judean rebels for reuse,” said Dr. Eitan Klein, one of the directors of the Judean Desert Survey Project, in the 2023 statement from the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Klein continued: “Obviously, the rebels did not want to be caught by the Roman authorities carrying these weapons… We will try to pinpoint the historical event that led to the caching of these weapons in the cave and determine whether it was at the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt.”
Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities AuthorityThe four Roman swords were hidden in a crevice, and three of them were still tucked inside their wooden scabbards.
As such, the inscription found by chance in the Dead Sea cave is an intriguing discovery, a possible remnant of the bloody Bar Kokhba Revolt. Researchers are now working to fully decipher this carving — and searching the cave’s walls for further messages from the distant past.
After reading about the ancient Aramaic inscription found in a Dead Sea cave, discover the story of Golgotha, the “place of skulls” where the Bible says Jesus was crucified. Then, learn about Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea who ordered Jesus’ execution.
