The Burial Caves date from the First Temple Period. Throughout many generations, they served affluent Jerusalem families as a location to bury their dead. The deceased was placed on a stone slab with a special indentation for the head. At the end of the twelve-month mourning period, the skeletal remains were transferred to a repository located beneath the stone slabs. This evokes the image of the Biblical phrase "he was gathered unto his forefathers."
The most important and most ancient of Biblical finds was discovered at this site - the Priestly Blessing (the text of which is found in Numbers 6:24-26). Altogether, this location contained some 1,000 artifacts, including bones, silver coins, jewelry, glassware, ceramics, oil lamps and more. The archeological dig was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Gabi Barkay.
The nearby caves were found to contain graves of soldiers from the 10th Roman Legion who laid siege to Jerusalem at the end of the Second Temple Period, in addition to a quarry, a Byzantine church with a mosaic floor, and leftover items from the Turkish Army who used the caves as storerooms during World War I.
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