Ancient Aramaic Inscription Found in Dead Sea Cave Hints at Lost Civilization Secrets
The inscription, as well as the discovery of four ancient swords in the cave’s crevices, suggests that it may have served as a hideout for rebels during the revolt between 132 and 136 C.E.
Discovering The Ancient Aramaic Inscription Inside A Dead Sea Cave
The discovery of the new inscription inside this Dead Sea cave came about entirely by chance. According to a Facebook post from the Israel Antiquities Authority in 2023, when the discovery of the swords was first announced, a team had indeed gone to the caves to photograph the Hebrew inscription from the First Temple period, which had been carved into a stalactite. The team hoped that, using multispectral imaging, they could decipher parts of the inscription that were invisible to the naked eye.
While there, they stumbled upon this second, unrelated inscription, written in Aramaic and carved faintly into the lower part of the stalactite.
Asaf GayerThis inscription, previously undocumented, is written in Aramaic and dates back to the second century C.E.
This small chunk of text, which is just 3.15 inches by 1.38 inches, is written in a square Hebrew script — similar to modern-day Hebrew — that emerged after the sixth century B.C.E.
It reads, in part: “Abba of Naburya has perished.” Researchers have not yet deciphered the entire inscription, but they have discovered a few individual words, including “on us,” “he took,” and “the.”
For now, researchers aren’t sure about the identity of “Abba of Naburya.” “Abba” was a common Jewish name in the first few centuries C.E., and “Naburya” was a village near Galilea. That said, researchers suspect that the inscription dates back to the 2nd century C.E., likely during the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
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