A large cave in Israel was seen as a ‘portal to the underworld’ by an eccentric sect in Roman times, a new study claims.
Archaeologists have analyzed artifacts from the Teomim Cave in the Jerusalem Hills, including oil lamps, axes and even three human skulls.
Around 2,000 years ago, cult members arranged the objects in the cave in an attempt to summon the dead – an ancient practice known as ‘necromancy’.
Caves have been considered the location for these ‘magic rituals’ as they were seen as providing access to the underground – and therefore the ‘underworld’.
It follows the discovery of 11,000-year-old human remains in a cave in Cumbria, thought to be those of a man who reoccupied Britain after the last Ice Age.
Israel’s Teomim Cave (pictured) contains ‘cultural and physical elements’ that suggest it served as a ‘portal to the underworld’, experts say
Illustrated, oil lamps found under the top of a human skull in a cave (frontal and parietal bones).
The new study was written by a pair of archaeologists – Ethan Klein from the Israel Antiquities Authority and Boaz Jissu from Bar-Ilan University.
‘The Teomim cave on the Jerusalem hill has all the cultural and physical elements necessary to serve as a possible portal to the underworld,’ they say in their paper.
‘The finds and their specific archaeological context provide a better understanding of the divination rituals that probably took place in the cave.’
Also known as Twins Cave, Teomim Cave is located east of the town of Beit Shemesh, southwest of Jerusalem.
It is a subterranean space with a deep chasm at one end, into which a spring flows and its water is collected in a rock-cut pool.
It was first excavated in 1873 by experts who mapped it and noticed a deep pit at its northern end, but it was only in the late 2000s that archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem began to study the site extensively.
During survey efforts between 2010 and 2016, more than 120 intact oil lamps, mostly dating from the second to fourth centuries AD, were collected from all parts of the cave.
‘All these lamps were deliberately inserted into narrow, deep cracks in the walls of the main chambers or under the ruins,’ the authors say.
‘Some of the cracks contained oil lamps or human skulls mixed with weapons and pottery from earlier periods.’
The team suggests that oil lamps, weapons, vessels, coins and three human skulls were used as part of the necromancy rituals that took place in the cave.
These artifacts date back approximately 2,000 years to the Roman era.
Also known as Twins Cave, Teomim Cave is located east of the town of Beit Shemesh, southwest of Jerusalem.
Necromancy is the ancient practice of attempting to communicate with the dead. Caves have been considered the location for these ‘magic rituals’ as they were seen as providing access to the underground – and therefore the ‘underworld’. Pictured, a deep chasm in the northern part of Teomim Cave
Here, an archaeologist is seen extracting an oil lamp from a crack in the rock in the cave. All these lamps were deliberately inserted into narrow, deep crevices in the walls of the main chamber or under the rubble.
The entrance to the cave is a natural opening that was widened by a ‘hewing’ – a person using some kind of tool, probably an axe.
After entering, one descends on the north side into a spacious room about 160 feet by 230 feet, most of which is covered with massive piles of stone.
Several passages and fissures within the rubble lead to ‘subterranean fissures’ and cavities that are ‘rich in archaeological finds’, the team said.
What is Necromancy?
Necromancy is the ancient practice of attempting to communicate with the dead.
Dating back thousands of years, it involves summoning the spirits of the dead or imagining them.
Such exercises were intended to prophesy or reveal future events or in an attempt to discover secrets.
Three human skulls were found inside hard-to-reach crevices and under large stones in the central chamber – and were not accompanied by bones from other body parts.
The authors reasoned that it was probably an attempt to speak to the people who once owned the skull.
Similarly, oil lamps were deliberately deposited in narrow, deep crevices, most of them accessible only by difficult crawling.
‘We had to use long poles with iron hooks to get many of them out, and the long poles were probably used initially to drive them in,’ they added.
‘The fact that these lamps were inserted and buried deep in these hidden, hard-to-reach crevices suggests that their sole purpose was not to illuminate the dark cavern.’
The researchers noted that it was common practice at the time to interpret shapes created by oil lamp flames as evidence of communication from the dead.
Meanwhile, placing metal axes inside the cave was an attempt to provide protection from evil spirits.
In their new study, published in the Harvard Theological Review, the experts acknowledge that scriptural sources rarely mention the sanctity of skulls.
However, this is due to the fact that they were mostly used for secret rituals that involved communicating and communicating with the dead.
The Te’omim cave is given as an example of a nekiomantion or ‘oracle of the dead’ – a shrine usually located in a cave or next to a water source believed to be an underworld portal.
The team suggests that oil lamps, weapons, vessels, coins and three human skulls were used as part of the necromancy rituals that took place in the cave. Image, oil lamp and a bowl
Group of well-preserved and intact oil lamps discovered in Teomim Cave during the 2012 excavation season
This image shows a map of Teomim Cave and where the oil lamps and coins were uncovered
‘They always included a shaft that led to the underworld, through which the dead could ascend,’ they say.
The historic site is already known to have played a role in the history of the Jerusalem Hills, west of the famous city.
During the Bar-Kokhba revolt, for example, it served as a hideout for Jewish rebels, but experts believe that the community members who used the cave were mainly non-Jewish residents of the area.
The group emphasizes the importance of recognizing ‘magic in archaeological contexts’ because of its significance to ancient civilizations.
‘The identification and analysis of the archaeological assemblage of Teomim Cave as a local oracle (Nekiomantion) is in our opinion an outstanding experimental case to be examined within the developing discipline of occult archaeology,’ they conclude.
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For an extra kick, they add bodily fluids to the mix, such as human blood, breast milk and even vaginal and oral mucus, experts claim.
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