Gary A. Byers<\/b><\/p>\n
You have heard the story of Mohammed edh-Dhib, the Bedouin shepherd who accidentally stumbled onto the Dead Sea Scrolls. Now meet Freddy Halprine. I encountered Freddy on a flight to Israel in September 1995, on the way to our initial season at Kh. al-Makater. Over dinner we began to swap archaeological stories, and it turned out his were much better than mine!<\/p>\n
In 1961, Freddy was a 19-year-old soldier in the Israeli army. Trained in explosives, he worked with metal detectors finding land mines. Because of this training, he was assigned to work with archaeologist Pesah Bar-Adon\u2019s excavation of caves in the Judean Desert. Freddy was to use his metal detector to find any metal objects in the caves.<\/p>\n
Freddy spent a month with the archaeologists excavating a natural cave in the Nahal Mishmar whose only opening was in the vertical side of a cliff, 160 feet down from the top and 800 feet from the valley floor below. Traces of a narrow one-person wide path could be seen, apparently winding down from the top of the cliff in antiquity. It had long since eroded away and modern access to the cave was only possible by rope ladder from the cliff above.<\/p>\n
For three weeks diggers worked through assorted debris of burials, ash, and household utensils of pottery, bone, shell, ivory, copper, stone and flint. The dry climate of the Dead Sea region also preserved organic materials – cloth of flax and wool; straw platters, baskets, mats, ropes and a sieve; leather sandals and a piece of a leather coat; food stuffs (wheat, lentils, onions, garlic, olives, dates and acorns); and bones of sheep, deer, <\/p>\n
Freddy Halprine (left) and the author, somewhere over the Atlantic.<\/b><\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 10:1 (Winter 1997) p. 4<\/p>\n
mountain goat, and various birds.<\/p>\n
With most of these items in fragmentary form, they were important to the archaeologists, but meant little to Freddy. Since his metal detector survey of the cave found nothing, and he had no other regular responsibilities, Freddy decided to try his hand at digging. During the final week of the excavation he was assigned to excavate along the north wall of a passageway opening into another chamber.<\/p>\n
Freddy noticed a small opening in the rocks and soil of the cave floor he was clearing. Without fear (or good sense – there was no way of knowing what kind of desert critter might have been hiding there), and lacking proper archaeological technique, Freddy reached his hand inside. He felt something and pulled it out, \u201cI found something,\u201d he announced, as he held it up high, \u201cand there are more!\u201d<\/p>\n
While today Freddy can\u2019t even remember exactly what he found, he does remember being immediately surrounded by the professional archaeologists – and quickly moved out of the way! Freddy never got close to his hole again!<\/p>\n
Like the professionals they were, the archaeologists did not reach in and pull out anything else. In fact, they left the hole as it was for the rest of the day, stationing a guard in the cave overnight. The next day, with a photographer recording every step, they began to carefully examine the hole. Inside was one of the most amazing finds in the history of Israeli archaeology.<\/p>\n
Freddy\u2019s hole was, in reality, a reed mat used as a wrapping and left on the cave floor long ago. While it may have been partially covered when it was placed there, over the centuries it became totally buried under silt. When recovered by Freddy in 1961, it apparently had laid there untouched for about 5, 000 years!<\/p>\n
While the find is a marvelous story in itself, even more amazing is what else was found wrapped in the mat. Carefully retrieved and recorded by the archaeologists were 429 objects, 99% of which were beautiful and excellently crafted copper vessels. One by one they were revealed: 240 copper mace heads, 80 copper wands (or standards), 20 copper chisels and axes, 10 copper crowns, five copper horns, and various copper juglets, pots and baskets. Freddy\u2019s find gave the cave a new name forever – The Cave of the Treasure.<\/p>\n
Apparently owned by a community, this horde probably represented religious ritual equipment. Who placed them here and why is unclear. They may have been hidden by friends or foes. This cave may have been their regular repository, a hiding place in exile, or even a robbers\u2019 lair. Furthermore, neither the temple where they were utilized or the workshop in which they were manufactured could be identified in the immediate vicinity. Obviously a homogeneous group, the whole assemblage was dated to the Chalcolithic Age (before 3,000 BC), based on vessels of similar shape from other ancient sites. Carbon dating of the mat and bits of wood still attached to some wands demonstrated the same general period.<\/p>\n
Freddy got to see all the items a few days later. They were placed on display when Prime Minister David <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 10:1 (Winter 1997) p. 5<\/p>\n
Hoard from the Cave of the Treasure in Nahal Mishmar.<\/b><\/p>\n
Ben-Gurion and his wife came to see the important finds at the site. But Bar-Adon, the cave\u2019s excavator, did not forget Freddy. In fact, he considered him a sort of good luck charm and took him along for other digs.<\/p>\n
While Freddy never did catch the \u201carchaeology bug,\u201d he did not mind this duty assignment. The young female volunteers, coming from all over the world to participate in the excavations, helped keep the job interesting. After his moment in the archaeological sun (Bar-Adon did mention Freddy in his volume on the find), he fought in Israel\u2019s 1967 and 1973 wars. A native-born Israeli, he later moved to the U.S. and settled in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
Freddy Halprine\u2019s discovery was a once-in-a-century experience. Most professional archaeologists, let alone dig volunteers, will never make such a discovery. But every excavation has its wonderful surprises. We have made many exciting finds in our digs and expect many more. We would love to have you join us and share the excitement. If you are interested in participating in our next dig, please contact us. You never know what you might find, or who you might meet along the way!<\/p>\n
Bibliography<\/b><\/p>\n
Bar-Adon, P.<\/p>\n
1980 The Cave of the Treasure: The Finds from the Caves in the Nahal Mishmar<\/i>. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.<\/p>\n
Ussishkin, D.<\/p>\n
1971 The \u201cGhassulian\u201d Temple in Ein Gedi and the Origins of the Hoard from Nahal Mishmar. Biblical Archaeologist<\/i> 34: 23\u201339.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gary A. Byers You have heard the story of Mohammed edh-Dhib, the Bedouin shepherd who accidentally stumbled onto the Dead Sea Scrolls. Now meet Freddy Halprine. I encountered Freddy on a flight to Israel in September 1995, on the way to our initial season at Kh. al-Makater. Over dinner we began to swap archaeological stories, … Continue reading “CAVE
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