Newly Discovered Tunnel May Once Have Carried Dead Sea Scrolls

Newly Discovered Tunnel May Once Have Carried Dead Sea Scrolls

According to a report in the Jewish Forward, "Accounts released last month of a newly discovered Jerusalem tunnel state that the passage was the very one used by those fleeing Jerusalem during the siege of 70 C.E., as described by Josephus. However, Josephus identifies not one tunnel but an elaborate network of them. That said, this most recent discovery, and others like it, have served to support Josephus's underlying version of events."

The article's author, Norman Golb says, "Warren's findings, together with the discovery of Reich and Shukron described in the recent news reports, fully support Josephus's statements relating to the tunnels beneath Jerusalem and the use to which they were put during the Roman siege of 70 A.D. These underground passages enabled many inhabitants of Jerusalem to exit the city and flee both south to Masada and, via Nahal Qidron and other wadis heading from Jerusalem eastward toward the Dead Sea, to the Machaerus fort lying just east of that sea, which was actually closer to Jerusalem than was Masada. (Josephus describes the large number of refugees who gathered at Machaerus.)"


Read More: http://www.forward.com/articles/11873/ (The article has four illustrations by Charles Warren which were published in his book Underground Jerusalem, published in 1876)