4 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Evidence of Necromancy during Roman era in the Te’omim Cave, Jerusalem Hills: Oil Lamps, Spearheads, and Skulls

Te’omim Cave in the Jerusalem Hills may once have served as a local oracle where people communed with the dead in the hopes of learning about the future.

In Te’omim Cave, excavations that took place between 2010 and 2016 recovered a huge collection of Roman oil lamps, weapons, pieces of pottery, and actual human skulls hidden inside deep crevices.

This unusual collection of artifacts has persuaded a pair of Israeli archaeologists that an esoteric religious cult existed in the region between the second and fourth centuries AD, or during the Late Roman era.

They believe cult members used Te’omim Cave for ritual ceremonies, some of which included human sacrifices. The cave is described by researchers as a possible “portal to the underworld”.

In a new article appearing in the Harvard Theological Review, archaeologists Eitan Klein from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Boaz Zissu from Bar-Ilan University, analyzing the discoveries made at the cave, suggest that Te’omim might have hosted “secret rites.

Oil lamps and human skulls found in the cave were used for ancient magical practice and ritual acts according to study. Photo: B. Zissu/ Te’omim Cave Archaeological Project
Oil lamps and human skulls found in the cave were used for ancient magical practice and ritual acts according to study. Photo: B. Zissu/ Te’omim Cave Archaeological Project

The use of skulls and other potent objects to pierce the veil of death and enable living people to communicate with the dead was a common form of witchcraft or divination in ancient times.

The researchers state that although these rites frequently occurred inside tombs or burial caves, they occasionally happened in nekyomanteion (or nekromanteion), also known as an “oracle of the dead.” These shrines were generally located found near water sources or in caves that were thought to be potential entrances to the underworld.

Surprisingly, early archaeological descriptions of Te’omim from the nineteenth century reveal that locals still attributed healing powers to the cave’s spring water.

Researchers have uncovered Roman-era items stashed in nooks and crannies within the cave, many of which may have been used to communicate with the dead. One of the main signals for researchers was the discovery of more than 120 preserved oil lamps systematically placed all around the cave system.

Plan of the Te’omim Cave. Image credit: B. Langford, M. Ullman/ Te’omim Cave Archaeological Project
Plan of the Te’omim Cave. Image credit: B. Langford, M. Ullman/ Te’omim Cave Archaeological Project

“The fact that these lamps had been thrust into and buried deep in these hidden, hard-to-reach crevices suggests that illuminating the dark cave was not their sole purpose,” the authors report in the study. Instead, they believe the lamps were used “as part of a cultic activity.”

“The use of oil lamps for divination … was extremely widespread in the classical periods,” the study said. “The prophetic force behind the lamp was believed to be a spirit or spirits, or in some cases even gods or demons.” Messages would come through the flames of the lamps. “Divination by means of oil lamps was done by watching and interpreting the shapes created by the flame.”

“Some crevices contained groups of oil lamps mixed with weapons and pottery vessels from earlier periods or placed with human skulls,” also write the study authors.

The study explains that weapons were kept close to those who entered the cave for divination. “They served primarily to protect the believer from evil spirits and to ensure that offerings to the specific spirit being conjured up were not seized by other spirits.”

Evil spirits were believed to be afraid of metal, particularly iron and bronze. As such, keeping a metal weapon close by, such as a sword or dagger, would keep you somewhat protected from evil spirits.

Also found in the cave system were multiple human skulls. The study states, “Due to the archaeological context of the finds and their location inside the cave, we assume that the craniums were placed together with the oil lamps as part of a ritual of magic.”

While it is of course difficult to pinpoint the exact purpose of the human skulls, the study is propose that they were used in a similar fashion to skulls found throughout the former Roman Empire which were employed for “necromancy ceremonies and communication with the dead.”

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017816023000214

Related Articles

Archaeologists find 4,000-year-old Sanctuary in Netherlands

22 June 2023

22 June 2023

Archaeologists discovered a 4,000-year-old sanctuary during excavations of the model industrial estate in the town of Tiel, located 72 kilometers...

1,400-year-old royal hall found in Suffolk, UK

5 October 2022

5 October 2022

Archaeologists, evidence of a 1,400-year-old royal Hall of the first Kings of East Anglia has been discovered in Rendlesham, Suffolk,...

Underground Tunnels Discovered in Cusco, Reviving Inca Legends

31 January 2025

31 January 2025

Underground tunnels, long rumored in local legends, have been discovered beneath Cusco, Peru, the former capital of the Inca Empire....

Archaeologists have unearthed a flawless Roman blue glass bowl in the Dutch city of Nijmegen

23 January 2022

23 January 2022

Archaeologists excavating the site of a comprehensive housing and green space development in Nijmegen’s Winkelsteeg, one of the oldest cities...

Researchers believe mass immigration to Orkney during the Bronze Age was mostly led by women

8 February 2022

8 February 2022

Researchers believe mass immigration to Orkney during the Bronze Age was mostly led by women.  Mass migration to Orkney during...

Negev desert archaeological site offers important clues about modern human origin

22 June 2021

22 June 2021

The archaeological excavation site at Boker Tachtit in Israel’s central Negev desert offers evidence to one of human history’s most...

Oregon may be home to oldest human occupied site in North America

12 July 2023

12 July 2023

Where and when the first humans appeared in North America is a contentious issue that many disagree on, and this...

People may have been cooking curries in South-East Asia for at least 2000 years

22 July 2023

22 July 2023

Archaeologists have found remnants of eight spices on a sandstone slab from an archaeological site in Vietnam, showing the early...

Archaeologists Discovered a New Pyramid Resembling Teotihuacán in Tikal

17 April 2021

17 April 2021

Researchers discovered a new pyramid complex in the Tikal in Guatemala. About 65 km south of El Mirador in the...

200,000-year-old hand axe discovered in the northern part of Saudi Arabia

5 November 2023

5 November 2023

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) of Saudi Arabia has announced that archeological excavation teams at the Qurh site in...

A new study reveals, Anglo-Saxon Kings were generally vegetarian, but peasants treated them to huge meat feasts

22 April 2022

22 April 2022

Very few people in England ate large amounts of meat before the Vikings settled, and there is no evidence that...

From Caves to Mounds: The Enigmatic Burial Practices of the Southern Jê in Brazil

25 February 2025

25 February 2025

A groundbreaking study published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology sheds light on the enigmatic burial practices of the Southern...

A Stunning Jade mask discovered in tomb of Maya King in Guatemala

28 January 2024

28 January 2024

Archaeologists excavating a looted pyramid tomb in the ruins of a Mayan city in Peten, northeast Guatemala, have discovered a...

9 Synagogues in Izmir to Reopen as Museum

26 March 2022

26 March 2022

As part of a Jewish heritage project in Izmir, Turkey, nine historic synagogues will be reopened as museums. Built by...

‘Holy Grail of shipwrecks’ worth $20 billion in treasure to be raised from seabed

10 November 2023

10 November 2023

A treasure ship described as the “holy grail of shipwrecks” will reportedly be lifted from the sea floor where it...