Archaeologists recently found and excavated a new cave in the cliffs near Qumran. While no new scrolls were found, Second Temple (dating 515 BCE to 70 CE) scroll pots were uncovered, and the site showed signs of looting.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem website (http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/33424) reports:
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| Piece of parchment found in clay jug in Qumran cliffs. (Photo: Casey L. Olson and Oren Gutfeld) |
"Excavation of the cave revealed that at one time it contained Dead Sea scrolls. Numerous storage jars and lids from the Second Temple period were found hidden in niches along the walls of the cave and deep inside a long tunnel at its rear. The jars were all broken and their contents removed, and the discovery ... of a pair of iron pickaxe heads from the 1950s ... proves the cave was looted.
"Until now, it was believed that only 11 caves had contained scrolls. With the discovery of this cave, scholars have now suggested that it would be numbered as Cave 12. Like Cave 8, in which scroll jars but no scrolls were found, this cave will receive the designation Q12."
