In the hills of Jerusalem, a large karst cave known as Te'omim opens up into the depths of the Earth. Israeli researchers have been analyzing the site since 2009 and have discovered more than 120 intact oil lamps, all deliberately placed in narrow crevices and on the walls of the main chamber.
Most of these lamps were placed between the 2nd and 4th centuries after Christ, at the height of Roman domination. Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority also found weapons and ceramic vessels from earlier times. But what really surprised them were the human skulls in the place.
“The oil lamps, weapons, human skulls and other artifacts found were probably used as part of the necromancy ceremonies that took place in the cave during the Late Roman period. The cave may have served as a local oracle (nekyomanteion),” the researchers write in an article published in the Harvard Theological Review.
In Roman times, magic and divination were part of the official religion. The Romans tried to communicate with the gods using whatever means they could find. The Te'omim cave, experts say, functioned as a place of devotion dedicated to a chthonic deity, from the underworld.
The cave entrance, a natural opening that was artificially widened, leads down a descent into a spacious 50 by 70 meter chamber, most of which is covered by a huge pile of rocks. Several passages and fissures lead to underground cracks and cavities, rich in archaeological finds.
The authors of the study suggest that this space could house "secret rites related to necromancy and communication with the dead, mainly by witches." "These rites generally took place inside tombs or burial caves, but sometimes they took place in a nekyomanteion, an 'oracle of the dead,'" they add.
These shrines were usually located in caves or next to water sources that were believed to be possible portals to the underworld. The first descriptions of Te'omim, made in the 19th century, already reveal that the locals still attributed healing powers to the spring water that flowed in the grotto.
"Human skulls," archaeologists say, "were used throughout the Roman Empire, including in and around Palestine, in ceremonies of necromancy and communication with the dead." Oil lamps also regularly appeared in such rites, where the participants tried to guess the future by interpreting the shapes created by the flames.
Eitan Klein and Boaz Zissu, experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority and Bar-Ilan University, highlight in their article numerous historical sources that allude to the belief that spirits were afraid of metal, particularly bronze and iron. Hence the presence of swords and other weapons would have served to "protect the believer from evil spirits and to ensure that offerings to the specific spirit being invoked are not taken by other spirits."
Te'omim's cave “has all the necessary physical and cult elements to serve as a potential portal to the underworld,” the study authors say. And they add that most of the objects discovered - lamps, bowls, ceramic and glass vessels, the head of an axe and daggers - were used in one way or another for sorcery and magic.
