An ancient burial cave from the 13th century B.C. was discovered on a beach in Israel last week, Israeli officials said Sunday.
Archaeologists used a ladder to descend into the man-made square cave after a mechanical digger working at the Palmahim national park made the discovery Tuesday. The room was filled with dozens of pottery pieces and bronze artifacts, according to video footage by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery," Eli Yannai, an expert in the Bronze Age with the IAA, said. "A cave floor laid out with vessels untouched for 3,300 years, since the Late Bronze Age, about the time of the powerful King Rameses II. The fact that the cave was sealed, and not looted in later periods, will allow us the employ the modern scientific methods available today, to retrieve much information from the artifacts and from the residues extant on the vessels. For example, organic remains that are not visible to the naked eye. The cave may furnish a complete picture of the Late Bronze Age funerary customs."
Several dozens of pottery and bronze artifacts were laid out in the cave in the same manner they were arranged in a burial ceremony, the authorities said. Ancient people believed the spiritual equivalent of the artifacts would have accompanied them to the afterlife.
