Evidence of necromancy 1,700 years ago

ISRAEL Human skulls and other items in the Te'omim cave are believed to have been used to conjure spirits - to communicate with the dead - in Roman times.

Researchers found oil lamps and human skulls in Te'omim cave near Jerusalem. Photo: Boaz Zissu/Te'omim Cave Archaeological Project

Scientists discovered three human skulls, 120 oil lamps, ax blades and ancient spears hidden in the Te'omim cave near Jerusalem, Live Science reported on July 17. These are evidences that in Roman times, this place was used to perform necromancy (talking with the dead). New research published in the Harvard Theological Review. Based on the design of the artefacts, the team believes that the ritual was performed in the cave between the 2nd and 4th centuries.

Most of the Jews living in the area were exterminated or driven out by the Roman Empire after the Bar Kokhba Jewish revolt of 132-136, according to study author Boaz Zissu, an archaeologist at the University Bar-Ilan, Israel. The Romans later settled here with people from other parts of the empire, possibly from Syria, Anatolia, and Egypt. "They brought with them new concepts, new customs and possibly necromancy," Zissu said.

Sorcery was considered evil and was often banned in the Roman Empire. However, many ancient cities are located near secret "oracle" sites where the ancients believed they could talk to the dead. Te'omim Cave is such a place.
Lamps, skulls and weapon fragments were placed into cracks in large caverns, often so deep that the team had to use long sticks with hooks at the end to remove them. Zissu said, it is possible that the ancients also used sticks to put them there.

The cracks are so deep that the oil lamp cannot emit much light. Initially, the team of experts thought that they were objects used for worshiping gods in the afterlife. But the skulls, also removed from the fissure, suggest that the actual purpose of the ritual was to attempt to speak to the dead - believed to have the ability to foretell the future. According to the research team, human bones are sometimes used to communicate with the person after death, the flickering fire is also interpreted as a message from the afterlife.

"This cave provides important evidence of the diversity of religious practices in Roman times, and of a stark contrast between the caves used for religious purposes by Roman polytheists and the Romans. earliest Christian cave churches in the Holy Land," said archaeologist Ken Dark at King's College London.