The Cave of Letters : Documentary on The Mysteries of Israel's Cave of Letters (Full Documentary)
Posted on 08/26/2018 1:20:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
On May 12, 1960, archaeologist Yigael Yadin, appearing at the Jerusalem residence of President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, announced the astounding discovery of a cache of 2,000-year-old letters... signed by the legendary Jewish warrior Shimon Bar Kochba, leader of a devastating second-century revolt against Rome, and had been found high up in a cave overlooking the Nahal Hever canyon, west of the Dead Sea.
The news was received with great excitement, both internationally and in a State of Israel that was still searching for connections to the ancient Jewish presence in the land.
The Bar Kochba letters, which were supplemented by additional finds from nearby the next year, had been found in what came to be called the Cave of Letters. The cave, in a canyon midway between Ein Gedi and Masada, had been explored a few years earlier by Bedouin from the Ta'amireh tribe.
When some documents found by the Ta'amireh in another cave, in nearby Wadi Muraba'at, and relating to Bar Kochba, turned up for sale in the antiquities market, Israeli archaeologist Yohanan Aharoni set off with a team to excavate the Cave of Letters, in 1953 and again in 1955...
Then more letters from the same period showed up for sale in early 1960, and the Israeli government resolved to carry out a comprehensive survey of the caves in the immediate area...
Most of the letters Yadin found were written in Bar Kochba's behalf to two of his deputies, Yehonathan Bar Be'ayan and Masabala, and were signed either Bar Koseba or Nasi Israel (prince of Israel). The letters include supply requisition requests and orders for the arrest of specific individuals. The orders are curt and generally call for the recipient to fulfill them "forthwith."
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Thank heaven he splurged by buying forever stamps.
And in that climate, they don’t have to worry about much besides the gloom of night.
At the Kochba Cabana...
Here at the Kochba
Music and fashion were always in fashion
At the Kochba...they fell in love...
Down at the Kochba Bar
Down at the Kochba Bar
Down at the Kochba Bar
Down at the Kochba Bar
Given all the fake archeological finds recently, I was just wondering what font did they use?
Times Old Roman, because, you know, it’s old.
We have very few if any actual autograph letters from the Roman era. (There MIGHT be a few words from Cleopatra on one order she gave.)
Bar Kochba’s extant letters shows him to have been a brutal commander (as noted elsewhere in historical texts).
Interestingly, he spells the name Joshua (Jesus) as Yeshua,
the same as messianics do today.
Three men walk into the Kochba Bar...a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim...
Not funny, but still...just crazy...
“When some documents found by the Ta’amireh in another cave...turned up for sale in the antiquities market... Then more letters from the same period showed up for sale in early 1960...”
As much as I’d love to buy something like that, how could you even be sure they were authentic? Those things are true treasures.
They don't come out as nice neat pieces of paper, they're in fragments, and can be dated by various methods. So, not fake.
Like what?
Three men walk into the Kochba Bar.
The fourth one ducks.
Three men walk into the Kochba bar.
One walks out.
Interesting NOVA documentary. Thanks!!
LOL!
Rock the Kochba doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as Rock the Casbah.
Hyeroglyphic or Old Roman,
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