Monday, March 31, 2014
Two Thousand Year Old Ossuaries Containing Jewish Bones from the Second Temple Period were Seized this Weekend in Jerusalem
In a joint operation conducted by the Shefet Police and the Israel Antiquities Authority ***
The ossuaries were allegedly plundered recently from an magnificent ancient burial
cave in the Jerusalem region
A number of suspects were apprehended in the early hours of Friday (28.3) in a joint operation by inspectors of the IAA Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery and detectives and patrolmen of the Shefet police station in Jerusalem. They were caught while in possession of eleven decorated stone ossuaries – ancient coffins – that the Jewish population used for burial in the Second Temple period, two thousand years ago. Some of the ossuaries still contained the skeletal remains of the deceased.
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority
