A burial cave thought to be from the period when the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses the Great reigned, the same Pharoah believed to have been the ruler at the time of the Israelite exodus from Egypt, was found near the Palmachin beach just 15 minutes south of Rishon Letzion. Inside the cave, many dozens of intact pottery and bronze vessels were left untouched by humans for over 3,300 years.
The Antiquities Authority said that these vessels were burial offerings - and they were buried with the dead in the belief that they would be used by them in the next world. The cave was discovered by chance, during works by the Nature and Parks Authority for the development of a new national park. A tractor hit a rock, unexpectedly revealing the ceiling of an ancient burial cave.
Dror Citron, the chief inspector of the Antiquities Authority, identified the space in the cave. Archaeologists from the Antiquities Authority were called to the place and descended a ladder into an incredible space that seemed frozen in time. The cave was carved in the shape of a square, and in the center of its ceiling was a pillar.
Dr. Eli Yanai, an expert on the Bronze Age at the Antiquities Authority, said: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime find! It's not every day that you see an Indiana Jones-like cave with dishes on the floor that haven't been touched in 3,300 years. We are talking about the Late Bronze Age. These are precisely the days of the famous king, Ramses II. The fact that the cave was sealed, and was not looted in later periods, allows us, with the scientific means available today, to extract a great deal of information from the objects and the materials that survived including stuff not visible to the human eye, like organic materials."
A burial cave from the time of Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II was unexpectedly found in the Palmachim National Park, a popular recreation site in central Israel
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) September 18, 2022
Archeologists said it was ‘a discovery of a lifetime’
https://t.co/6QpKNVlvQh
The expert further added that: "the cave can provide us with a complete picture of the burial customs in the Late Bronze Age. In the cave, mainly, dozens of pottery vessels of various sizes and shapes were found. Among them, there are deep and shallow bowls, some of which are painted red, cooking pots, jugs, and clay candles that contained oil for lighting".
According to Dr. Yanai, some of the jars were produced on the coasts of Lebanon and Syria. Next to the jars, small storage vessels were found - mainly pitchers, which were intended to store precious materials in small quantities.
These vessels were imported from the area of ​​Tyre, Sidon, and other port cities on the coast of Lebanon. Also, many pottery vessels imported from Cyprus were found. According to Dr. Yanai, many of the items found were brought to Israel in large quantities and were common by-products for burials. Along with the pottery, bronze arrowheads and spears were found in the cave.
Despite the crowds that flock to Palmachim beach daily, the 3,300-year-old cave was literally untouched and full of vessels used as burial offerings. pic.twitter.com/cIyVJ5nbkr
— Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) September 18, 2022
"The findings in the cave date back to the 13th century BC (Late Bronze Age)," added Dr. Yanai. “During this period - during the 19th Egyptian dynasty, the days of Ramses II, there was an Egyptian administration in the land of Israel, which allowed safe conditions for large-scale trade. These economic and social factors are well reflected in the cave finds: the pottery brought from Ugarit in the north, from Cyprus and the nearby coastal cities - primarily Jaffa, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Tel Ajul, testify that the residents of Yavne-Yam (Palmahim coast) were integrated into the lively trade that was conducted along the coastlands of the Levant."
Palmachim Beach is a popular private beach that is a favorite of surfers. It lies adjacent to Kibbutz Palmachim. The area is being given a facelift and in demolishing the old snack cabana, the burial cave was found. There is no word on how long the new find will add to the construction of the national park, or if it will be incorporated into the park somehow.
