Cave of Letters
[2] The cave was discovered by Bedouin of the Ta'amireh tribe and explored in 1953 and 1955 by inspector of the Israel Department of Antiquities, Yohanan Aharoni.
However the expedition first visited Nahal Hever, where the team noticed remnants of a Roman siege camp directly above the Cave of Letters.
In the Cave of Letters, archaeologists found Chalcolithic remains from the 4th millennium BCE as well as artifacts from the Roman period.
One skeleton was covered by a colorful mat and other textiles, while the remains of a child dressed in a tunic were discovered in a leather lined basket.
Other finds of archeological significance were samples of Bar Kochba Revolt coinage, inscribed on one side 'Shimeon' and on the other, 'to the Freedom of Jerusalem' (לחרות ירושלם).
A tied bundle of documents, the Bar-Kokhba letters, was found in a waterskin,[1] next to what were apparently a woman's belongings: wool, cosmetic tools, beads, a perfume flask and a mirror.
[citation needed] A letter consisting of four slats of wood tied together with the other papyri was the only one that used the words "Nesi Israel" (the others used "Shimeon ben/bar Kosiba").
This passage of the letter is of particular interest to scholars because it might indicate that non-Jews were a part of Bar-Kohkba's revolt, a fact that is also supported by the third century historian Dio Cassius, "And many outside nations were joining for the eagerness of gain".
These included an empty jewelry box, with a barrel shaped top and a flat bottom that was painted with yellow and red dots,[8] some wooden plates and bowls, and an iron sickle.
More artifacts were found elsewhere in the cave, including a second coin from the "Freedom of Jerusalem" period, two cooking pots, and a fowling net.
The next discovery was of a set of one large glass bowl, and two smaller glass plates, in a palm fiber wrap,[11] as well as two willow baskets and a strip of papyrus with verses 7 and 8 of chapter 20 of the Book of Numbers written in Hebrew - these two verses concern God's commandment to Moses and Ahron to speak to the desert rock so that it produce water.
The cache also contained Babatha's marriage contract to her second husband Yehudah, as well as a document describing the conditions of a loan of 300 silver denarii to him by her.
Other documents were found concerning the splitting of her husband Yehudah's property between various family members, including his daughter from his other marriage.
This document is dated 7 July 131, and states, "In the presence of the witness ... Babata [daughter of] Shimeon of Maoza summoned Maryam [Mariame] daughter of Be'ayan of En-gedi to come forth together with her and Haterius Nepos the governor wherever he may be present; since you [Miriam] plundered everything in the house of Yehudah son of Eleazar Khthusion, my husband and yours..." The last document is dated 19 August 132, the year of the Bar Kohkba revolt.
