The discovery of important archaeological finds in the area of Massada where King Herod’s Palace once stood were announced here yesterday by Dr. Yochanan Aharoni, Israeli archaeologist.
He announced that some broken pottery and a papyrus fragment containing inscriptions similar to those of the Dead Sea Scrolls had been found. This would place the fragments at 73 C.E., when the Romans destroyed Herod’s Palace, or earlier, thus providing additional proof of the age of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Among the findings at the excavations near the Dead Sea, Dr. Aharoni reported were a cave which had served as an arms depot and that had been burned out, a well preserved cave that had been used as a food storehouse and a dry pool and canals which had once served as a water storage system. The excavations are being carried out jointly by the Hebrew University, the government Department of Antiquities and the Israel Exploration Society.
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