A discovery of 3,300 years.
This Sunday, the Israeli archaeological authorities announced the accidental discovery of an intact burial vault dating from the time of Pharaoh Ramses II.
This vault was filled with pottery, bronze objects and bones, but also at least one relatively intact human skeleton and could offer "a more complete picture of the funeral rites of the end of the Bronze Age". according to Eli Yannai, an expert on this period at the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
An “extremely rare” discovery
The vault, considered an 'extremely rare' find by the IAA, was uncovered last Tuesday when a worker working with a mechanical shovel at Palmahim National Park, south of metropolitan Tel Aviv, stumbled over a piece of stone which turned out to be the roof of this burial vault.
Armed with video cameras and flashlights, archaeologists found ancient crockery, urns, cups, bones and various bronze objects, including arrowheads, the IAA said.
“When I saw the objects in the cave at Palmahim beach, my eyes immediately lit up, a discovery like this only happens once in a lifetime.
And to find intact objects, which have never been touched since their first use, is incredible,” enthused David Gelman, archaeologist at the IAA.
According to Israeli archaeologists, these objects had been deposited in this burial cave in order to accompany the deceased after their death.
A handout picture provided by the Israel Antiquities Authority on September 18, 2022, shows finds including pottery vessels, dating back to the thirteenth century BCE during the rule of Egypt's Pharaoh Rameses II, disovered untouched in a funerary cave at the central Palmachim park area on the Mediterranean coast.
- The cave was uncovered on a beach earlier in the week, when a mechanical digger working at the Palmahim national park hit its roof, with archaeologists using a ladder to descend into the spacious, man-made square cave.
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The vault sealed and placed under surveillance
These objects have not been touched for 3,300 years and date from the period of Ramses II, who reigned over Egypt between 1279 and 1213 BC and also controlled Canaan, a territory which included the equivalent of Israel modern, Palestinian Territories and parts of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, according to the authority of antiquities.
The latter have also sealed the vault and placed guards around it while waiting to formulate a more thorough excavation plan on this site where "a few items" have already been looted in the short period, last week, from the discovery when the site closed, the IAA said.