Date:

Operation to prevent looting has led to discovery of burial caves

A joint operation to prevent the looting of antiquities by the Kafr Kanna Police and the Israel Antiquities Authority Theft Prevention Unit has led to the discovery of a burial caves near Kafr Kanna in Galilee, Israel.

The team investigated a plot near the village of Mashhad where they recovered stone ossuary’s (small burials chests) and found a burial cave from the Roman period that was entirely destroyed by large scale construction works.

- Advertisement -

Upon further inspection of the site, the removal of earth revealed a second rock-hewn burial cave with niches and decorated stone ossuary’s, although the cave has also been partially damaged by the construction works. The ossuary’s were found empty and moved from their original location, suggesting that the cave had recently been looted.

The ossuary’s are small rectangular chests carved in soft limestone that were used for the secondary burial of human bones after the body tissue decayed. The custom of secondary burial in stone ossuary’s was a Jewish practice carried out in Judea and the Galilee area in the Early Roman period from around the first century BC.

Image Credit : Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority

A closer inspection of one of the ossuary’s shows an inscription depicting a mausoleum in Greek or a “nefesh” in Hebrew. Another ossuary is carved with a circular wreath in which holes were drilled, thought by some to symbolise the victory of the deceased over death.

All construction work has been stopped and several workers have been summoned to the local police station on suspicion of damaging antiquities and failing to report the discovery to authorities.

- Advertisement -

In Israel, there is a legal obligation to report chance finds of antiquities to the Israel Antiquities Authority, and damaging antiquities is a criminal offense punishable by up to five years imprisonment.

According to Amir Ganor, Director of the Theft Prevention Unit at the Israel Antiquities Authority: “The original details of the destroyed cave cannot be reconstructed, and almost two-thousand-year-old cultural assets are lost forever. Thanks to the vigilance and determination of the Kafr Kanna Police, and the successful cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority, one of the caves was mostly saved.”

IAA

Header Image Credit : Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority

- Advertisement -

Stay Updated: Follow us on iOS, Android, Google News, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, and our newsletter

spot_img
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan is multi-award-winning journalist and the Managing Editor at HeritageDaily. His background is in archaeology and computer science, having written over 8,000 articles across several online publications. Mark is a member of the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW), the World Federation of Science Journalists, and in 2023 was the recipient of the British Citizen Award for Education, the BCA Medal of Honour, and the UK Prime Minister's Points of Light Award.
spot_img
spot_img
spot_img

Mobile Application

spot_img

Related Articles

Pre-war Jewish district uncovered in Lublin

Archaeologists from the Lublin Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments have uncovered traces of Lublin’s pre-war Jewish district during construction works at Zamkowa and Podwale streets.

Ornately decorated sarcophagus unearthed in “City of Gladiators”

Excavations in Stratonikeia, located in the Yatağan district of Muğla in southwestern Türkiye, have unearthed a 2,000-year-old sarcophagus from the Roman Imperial Age.

The mystery of a 1940’s Ford Woody discovered on USS Yorktown shipwreck

During a recent expedition aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer for the Papahānaumokuākea ROV and Mapping project, NOAA Ocean Exploration and its partners discovered a 1940s Ford Woody on the wreck of the USS Yorktown.

Roman phallus found at frontier fortress

Excavations at Vindolanda near Hadrian’s Wall have unearthed a miniature phallus pendant.

Ancient underground chamber discovery in Cnoc Ard

A construction project in Cnoc Ard (Knockaird) on the Isle of Lewis has revealed a stone-built underground chamber, later identified by archaeologists as a Late Iron Age souterrain.

Caral burial unearthed at Áspero: Elite woman found remarkably preserved

Archaeologists from the Caral Archaeological Zone (ZAC), led by Dr. Ruth Shady Solís from the Ministry of Culture, have discovered a well-preserved burial at the Áspero archaeological site in Barranca Province, Peru.

Mesolithic figurine found in Damjili Cave offers new clues to Neolithic transition

A stone figurine discovered in Damjili Cave, western Azerbaijan, is providing archaeologists with new insights into the cultural and symbolic transition from the Mesolithic to Neolithic in the South Caucasus.

Bite marks confirm gladiators fought lions at York

A recent study published in PLOS One has identified bite marks on human remains excavated from Driffield Terrace, a Roman cemetery on the outskirts of York, England.