TZEELIM VALLEY, ISRAEL—Reuters reports that Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists have returned to the Judean desert as part of a national project to rescue any artifacts remaining in cliff-side caves from looting. “These looters that operate in the area are experts at finding scrolls,” said Guy Fitoussi, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority robbery prevention unit in southern Israel. “We go after them, look for what they are looking for, and try to catch them.” His team is currently excavating the Cave of the Skulls, named for human remains thought to have belonged to Jewish rebels who hid in the cave during the Bar Kokhba rebellion some 2,000 years ago. In 2014, six people were arrested at the site, which is located on a cliff some 820 feet above a dry river bed that leads to the Dead Sea. So far, the team has recovered a piece of rope that may have been used by the Bar Kokhba rebels. To read about another find associated with the Bar Kokhba rebellion, go to "2,000-Year-Old Stashed Treasure."
