More than a decade after a 2,000-year-old Roman sword was discovered in the City of David in Jerusalem, its missing point has recently been found in further excavations in the area.
During an archaeological soil sifting at Jerusalem's Emek Tzurim National Park, workers noticed an unusual piece of metal among the findings. They placed it in a plastic bag, noting the locus number (excavation area) from which the soil originated, and cautiously labeled the bag with their interpretation of the object: "Sword?"
"We immediately recognized it was probably a piece of a sword, but we didn't understand the context of it being there," said Ben Mazuz, who was working in the area when the artifact was found. "Only when the excavation director, Eli Shukron, arrived at the sifting site and saw the piece did I realize it was something significant."
"He got very excited and immediately recognized it as part of the same sword he had discovered over a decade ago. He even identified the fragments of a leather sheath that covered the sword," he added.
Shukron, who managed the excavation of a drainage channel in the City of David National Park on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), added: "This isn't a discovery you find every day, and it's very exciting, especially these days, just before Tisha B'Av" (Hebrew date of the Second Temple's destruction).
The sword, discovered in 2011 during excavations held by the Israel Antiquities Authority in a main drainage channel made in Jerusalem dated to the Second Temple period, likely belonged to one of the Roman legionnaires who destroyed Jerusalem. The iron sword was preserved at a length of no less than 60 cm, and its state of preservation surprised the researchers.
The drainage channel where the sword was uncovered served as a hiding spot for Jerusalem's residents from the Romans during the destruction of the Second Temple. "I always wondered where the tip of this sword was," Shukron said.
"Recently, I visited the sifting site at Emek Tzurim, and I couldn't believe my eyes when they showed me the new find. I've been waiting for the day I could complete the sword for over a decade, and that day has finally arrived. This is truly a 2,000-year-old closure," he concluded.