Boys find Second Temple burial cave near Beit Shemesh

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
In a scene out of the Hollywood Indiana Jones, three Israeli children stumbled upon an ancient Second Temple cave in the Beit Shemesh area filled with skeletons and ossuaries, Israel's Antiquities Authority announced Monday. The boys, ages 11-13, who discovered the heretofore unknown cave during a scout's cave-hunt, were awarded a certificate of recognition for reporting their finds to the Antiquities Authority. The cave was first uncovered last week by sixth grader Or Perel, 12, who came upon the unmarked cave during the scout's search for known caves, and discovered the ancient burial boxes and skeletal remains. "I screamed up to the sky when I saw what I saw," Perel recounted Monday in a telephone interview. Frightened by the gloomy find, he ran to fetch his friends, and together they summoned their instructor, he said. The cave was subsequently sealed by Antiquities Authority inspectors. The 12-year-old ancient cave-discoverer said he liked archeology.