Tomb with 'Do not open' warning in blood-red text discovered in Israel

Agencies | Jerusalem        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Archaeologists in Israel have discovered a tomb with a blood-red warning to anyone who attempts to open it.

The 'curse tomb' was found in the recently uncovered cave within an ancient cemetery in Beit She'arim, Israel. According to reports, this is the first tomb to be discovered at the UNESCO World Heritage Site for 65 years.

The cave was discovered by researchers a year ago. But smaller caves within the main cave were discovered recently. The archaeologists noted the tomb is a significant find because it is the first-ever within the heritage site to identify a dead person as a convert.

Strangely, the tomb had a message inscribed on it in red, cautioning people not to open it.

It read: “Yaakov Ha’Ger vows to curse anybody who would open this grave, so nobody will open it. 60 years old.”

'Yaakov Ha'Ger' translates to Jacob the proselyte, which means a convert to Judaism.

While nothing is known about the person who wrote the warning, an archaeologist from the University of Haifa said the message was inscribed in a bid to make sure the resting place of the dead remained undisturbed.

"It was to prevent others from opening the tomb at a later point, which happened quite often - re-using tombs through time," said Adi Erlich.

Erlich added the inscription is from the late Roman or early Byzantine period, a time when Christianity was strengthened.

"The inscription is from the late Roman or early Byzantine period, in which Christianity was strengthened. And here we find evidence that there are still people who choose to join the Jewish people. We know of converts in the Roman period mostly from funerary contexts, such as first-century AD Jerusalem, or third to fourth-century AD Rome. But this is the first proselyte from Beit She'arim, and they are not well attested from that time in Galilee. So this is real news,” Erlich said.

"We just took care of the inscription and blocked the cave to keep it safe for the time being. No excavations are planned at the moment," she added.