Important archaeological relics were discovered during the weekend by the Israel Archaeological Mission in the Judean Hills near Ein Gedi, Prof. Yigael Yadin reported today. One group of archaeologists found many scrolls and papyri in the same cave where a group led by Prof. Yadin last year found the Bar Kochha letters.
Professor Yadin said on a taped interview on Kol Yisroel that the newest findings were made by chance. He said one man among the group investigating the cave hit a stone and moved it, revealing beneath it bottles of skin. Further examination disclosed relics which apparently had belonged to a woman, such as yarn and a Jewelry box. He said the finding also included wrapped scrolls and papyri which will be examined later.
The excavators also found a coin which had engraved on one side the word “Shimon” and a palm tree on the other. Another find was a Roman-style sandal. Other groups working in the same area found the remains of many men, women and children, assumed to belong to the end of the Bar Kochba uprising against the Romans in 132.135 C-E Ein Gedi was one of the last strongholds of the revolt.
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