JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—The Times of Israel reports that a group of recreational cavers discovered rock art carved into the limestone walls of an ancient cistern near an unnamed archaeological site located in south-central Israel. The images include a three-footed menorah with seven branches, a cross, and a key. Archaeologist Sa’ar Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority examined the patina-covered engravings and thinks the menorah was carved sometime during the Second Temple period, between 530 B.C. and A.D. 70. Niches, carved into walls alongside the cistern, may have been used for raising doves for temple use at this time. The cross is thought to date to the fourth century A.D. Ganor explained that the settlement near the cistern dates to the late Roman and Byzantine periods. For more on archaeology in Israel, go to “Sun and Moon.”
