Archaeologists have discovered evidence of a possible “portal to the underworld” where necromancy and cultic magic occurred. 

A new study published in the Harvard Theological Review revealed Te'omim Cave contained ancient skulls, lamps, coins, and artefacts that span thousands of years.

The cave, located in the Jerusalem Hills of Israel, has been studied since 1873 and is a source of both legends and historical dramas.

It was a vibrant site of devotion for pagans in the late Roman period some 2,000 years ago, though it also contains artefacts that are at least two millenia older.  

There are also various natural spring water and cavernous chambers that have attracted visitors since the Bronze Age. The cave even served as a hideout for Jewish rebels during the Bar Kokhba revolt in the 2nd century CE.

Since 2009, researchers have been excavating the site as part of a collaboration of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University and the Cave Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 

During this period, academics revealed more than 120 intact oil lamps, along with weapons, coins, vessels, and three human craniums (skulls) with no signs of other skeletal remains were discovered.

Caves

Researchers found hidden passageways leading off from the cave (Photo: Harvard Theological Review)

Eitan Klein and Boaz Zissu, archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority and Bar-Ilan University, said they can “propose with due caution that necromancy ceremonies took place in the Te’omim Cave in the Late Roman period, and that the cave may have served as a local oracle (nekyomanteion) for this purpose".

They noted that the placement of the artefacts in the cave hinted that people performed necromancy ceremonies intended to raise the dead nearly 2,000 years ago. Necromancy refers to the practice of communicating with the dead, and ancient texts from this time mention using human skulls as part of the rituals.

In the study, they added: “The Te’omim Cave in the Jerusalem hills has all the cultic and physical elements necessary to serve as a possible portal to the underworld.

“Most of the objects discovered in hard-to-reach crevices in the Te’omim Cave, including the oil lamps, the ceramic and glass bowls and vessels, the axe head, and the daggers, were used in one way or another for sorcery and magic in caves perceived as possible portals to the underworld. 

"Their purpose was to predict the future and conjure up the spirits of the dead.

“Because more than 100 ceramic oil lamps but only three human skulls have been found so far in the Te’omim Cave, we hypothesise that the primary cultic ceremony focused on depositing oil lamps for chthonic forces, perhaps as part of rituals conducted in the cave to raise the dead and predict the future.”

archlogists2

Archaeologists more than 100 lamps and a skull hidden in the cave's crevices (Photo: Harvard Theological Review)

The researchers explained that due to the archaeological context of the finds and their location inside the cave, they assume that the "craniums were placed together with the oil lamps as part of a ritual of magic."

They added: "Examination of both the written sources and the archaeological finds may indicate the type of ritual that took place in the cave, involving the use and hiding of human craniums, lamps, and bowls, together with metal weapons and other artefacts dating to much earlier periods."

Academics note the cave was an exemplary case study for “the developing discipline of the ‘archaeology of magic” which is focused on evidence for magical and supernatural practices in the past.