It could be a scene from “Indiana Jones” or “The Illuminati”! But it’s not (just) a well-written Hollywood script, but reality! Archaeologists discovered in the Holy Land in Israel that there is a cursed tomb. But why “cursed”?
It was called the cursed tomb because they discovered an eerie description on a slab, with a chilling warning: “Don’t dare open it.”
The discovery was made in Beit She’arim, Israel, in a recently discovered cave inside an ancient cemetery. The tomb is the first to be discovered by the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 65 years.
The inscription with the “curse” is written in red letters and reads: “Yaakov Ha’Ger swears to curse whoever opens this grave, so that no one dares to open it. 60 years old”.
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One of the archaeologists from the University of Haifa, Adi Erlich, explained that the curse was written in an attempt to ensure that the resting place of the deceased inside would remain eternal: “It was written to prevent them from opening the tomb, which was happening quite often, as over the years, the tombs were reused. The name “Yaakov Ha’Ger” translates to “Yaakov the convert”, referring to a convert to Judaism. The archaeological team believes that the “curse” inscription was placed 1800 years ago.
Professor Erlich said: “The inscription is from the late Roman or early Byzantine period, when Christianity was strengthened. And here we find evidence that there are still people who choose to unite with the Jewish people.
We know of converts in the Roman period, such as Jerusalem in the first century AD. or the Rome of the third to fourth AD. at that time in Galilee. So these are real facts.”
The original cave was discovered a year ago, however smaller caves have recently been uncovered within it.
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However, the team of archaeologists is not tempted to open the tomb and will respect the wishes of the deceased. Professor Erlich noted: “We just took care of the inscription and blocked off the cave to keep it safe for now.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has the “curse inscription” in its possession, but it says it has no plans to display it.
