A team of experts found pottery shards and bronze artifacts dating back to the time of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh who died in 1213 BC.
A team of Israeli archaeologists has discovered a burial cave dating back to the time of Pharaoh Rameses II of ancient Egypt.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Sunday that the discovery was made on Tuesday when the team found pieces of pottery and bronze artifacts dating back to the reign of the Egyptian king. ancient, who died in 1213 BC.
The cave was discovered on a beach when a mechanical excavator working at Palmahim national park crashed into its roof, with archaeologists using a ladder to descend into the wide man-made square cave cobble.
In a video released by the IAA, archeologists with many talents shine flashlights at dozens of ceramic vases of various shapes and sizes.
Bowls – some painted red, some with bones – can be seen in the cave along with foot cups, cooking pots, storage jars, lamps and bronze arrowheads or spikes.
The items are burial offerings to accompany the deceased on their final journey to the afterlife, found intact since being placed there some 3,300 years ago.
At least one relatively intact skeleton was also found in two rectangular cells in the corner of the cave.
“The cave can provide a complete picture of Late Bronze Age preservation customs,” said Eli Yannai, an IAA Bronze Age expert.
It was an “extremely rare discovery…once in a lifetime,” Yannai said, pointing to the cave’s excess wealth that remained sealed away until it was recently discovered.
The finds date back to the reign of Rameses II, who controlled Canaan, a territory that roughly comprised present-day Israel and Palestinian territories.
The provenance of the ceramic vessels – Cyprus, Lebanon, northern Syria, Gaza and Jaffa – is evidence of “the vibrant trade that took place along the coast,” Yannai said in a statement by the IAA.
The cave has been closed and is being protected while excavation plans are being worked out, the IAA said, noting that “several items” were taken from it within a short period of time. when detected and closed.
