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Four 1,900-year-old Roman swords found in cave in Israel
Archaeologists have found four Roman swords and a shafted weapon known as a pilum dating from 1,900 years ago in a cave near the shore of the Dead Sea in Israel.
The rare cache of weapons was found in the En Gedi Nature Reserve, preserved in wooden and leather scabbards, according to a press statement from the Israel Antiquities Authority published Wednesday.
“Finding a single sword is rare—so four? It’s a dream! We rubbed our eyes to believe it,” the researchers said.
The weapons were probably war booty taken from the Roman army by Judean rebels, according to the authors of a research article published Wednesday in the book “New Studies in the Archaeology of the Judean Desert: Collected Papers.”
The first evidence—the pilum and pieces of worked wood that turned out to be scabbards—were found by chance in an isolated and inaccessible cave on cliffs by archaeologists studying a fragmentary ink inscription on a stalactite.
Further investigation revealed four swords “in an almost inaccessible crevice on the upper level of the cave,” the statement said.
The “exceptionally well preserved” swords were found alongside pieces of leather, wood and metal. Three of the swords had iron blades inside wooden scabbards and measured 60-65 centimeters (24-26 inches) in length. The fourth was 45 centimeters (18 inches) long.
“The hiding of the swords and the pilum in deep cracks in the isolated cave north of ‘En Gedi, hints that the weapons were taken as booty from Roman soldiers or from the battlefield, and purposely hidden by the Judean rebels for reuse,” said Eitan Klein, one of the directors of the Judean Desert Survey Project.
“Obviously, the rebels did not want to be caught by the Roman authorities carrying these weapons. We are just beginning the research on the cave and the weapon cache discovered in it, aiming to try to find out who owned the swords, and where, when, and by whom they were manufactured,” he added.
Further excavations uncovered a bronze “Bar Kokhba” coin dating from 132–135 CE, possibly dating the swords, according to the press release. At this time, the Bar Kokhba Revolt, also known as the Second Jewish Revolt, saw Jews rebel against Roman rule in the area.
“This is a dramatic and exciting discovery, touching on a specific moment in time. Not all are aware that the dry climatic conditions pertaining in the Judean Desert enable the preservation of artifacts that do not survive in other parts of the country,” Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in the statement. “This is a unique time capsule, whereby fragments of scrolls, coins from the Jewish Revolt, leather sandals, and now even swords in their scabbards, sharp as if they had only just been hidden away today.”
注释：
shaft: v
表示"装杆于, 装柄"，means "equip with a shaft"，如：shafted sword装柄的剑
pilum: n
表示" (古罗马步兵使用的) 短矛"，如：Common pilum 普通矛
scabbard：n
表示" (刀、剑)鞘；枪套"，means ""，如：He made a very beautiful scabbard for his knife. 他为他的刀做了一个漂亮的鞘。
booty: n
表示" 战利品；赃物；奖励"，means "goods or money obtained illegally"，如：She couldn't wait to get her booty home and try it on. 她迫不及待地要把战利品带回家试穿。
Stalactite: n
表示" 钟乳石"，如：Not every stalactite has a complementary stalagmite. 不是每根钟乳石都有互生的石笋。
artifact: n
表示" 人工制品"，means "a man-made object taken as a whole"，如：In the wrong hands this powerful artifact has the ability to unravel the soul.在错误手这强有力的人工制品有能力解开灵魂。
whereby: adv
表示" 凭借,靠什么，凭什么"，means " by which"，如：He devised a plan whereby he might escape.他想出了一个可藉以逃脱的办法。
中文简要说明：
考古学家在以色列死海沿岸附近的一个洞穴中，发现了4把罗马剑，和1把罗马重标枪(pilum)，其历史可追溯至 1900 年前的罗马帝国初期。虽然标枪的木柄已经消失，但是5柄武器都还相当完整，甚至剑的木造剑柄也还存在。
CNN报导，以色列古物管理局(Antiquities Authority)的新闻稿称，古物是在恩戈迪自然保护区(En Gedi Nature Reserve)的山洞里发现，剑还保存在木质和皮革的鞘中。
研究人员兴奋的说：「找到一把古剑就很难得，何况是四把保存如此完好的！这对我们来说就是美梦成真，我们几乎是揉着眼睛才相信这不是梦。」
3把剑的长度在60~65公分，第4把略短，为45公分。
以色列文物管理局局长艾斯库西多( Eli Escusido)说：「“这是一个重大的发现，朱迪亚沙漠的干燥气候条件，能够保存在其他地区无法幸存的文物，这里就像是时间胶囊，里面有滚动条碎片、犹太起义的硬币、皮凉鞋，现在甚至还有剑鞘里的剑，剑的状态之好，锋利得好像今天才刚刚被藏起来一样。」
研究人员从以往的论文《朱迪亚沙漠考古研究》的看法，推测这些武器可能是当地的反抗军，从罗马军手中缴获，然后藏在山洞，避免被别人发现。考古学家表示，这些武器刻意放在在洞穴上层，外人几乎难进入的裂缝中。
进一步的挖掘，还发现了一枚青铜币，上头是西门巴柯巴(Bar Kokhba)，这是公元 132 年至 135 年的犹太反抗领袖，他的叛乱行动也称为第二次犹太起义，见证了犹太人反抗罗马的历史。
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