In the year 70 A.D – the end of the big Jewish revolt against the Romans (66-70A.D)-after that the Romans succeeded to conquer Jerusalem, they destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the second Temple. 70 A.D – the end of the time of the second Temple. After the year 70A.D the Romans still allowed Jews to live in Galilee, Judea and even in Jerusalem.
62 years later, in 132 A.D – the Jews in the land of Israel decided to revolt again against the Romans. The Jewish leader at that time was Simeon Bar Kochva.
All the Jews in Israel at that time were 100% sure that this time, under the leadership of Bar Kochva, they will manage to defeat the Romans, to expel them from Israel ,and to declare independence of a Jewish state. Many of the Jews saw Bar Kochva as their military leader and the future president of the Jewish state. even the name Bar Kochva is symbolic and meaningful. it means: the son of a star. star of hope to the Jewish people at that time.
When the Bar Kochva revolt started at 132 A.D the Roman empire sent half of their army to Israel in order to reconquer this land: 12 legions. After that the Romans took Galilee, the coastal plain, Jerusalem and Jordan valley – Jewish communities, thousands of Jews who managed to escape including Bar Kochva and his last soldiers- escaped to the Judean desert. In the Judean desert all of them lived in caves. In the Judean desert Bar Kochva and the Jews declared the independence of a Jewish state called ISRAEL , and also declared Bar Kochva as the president of ISRAEL.
As an act of independence Bar Kochva and the Jews did 2 very important things :1) they revived the Hebrew language. We have to remember that in 132 A.D most of the Jews in Israel didn’t speak, read or write Hebrew. most of them spoke, read and wrote Aramaic and Greek.2) They stopped using Roman coins. Till 132A.D the Jews in Israel used only Roman coins. under the Roman regime they were not allowed to make their own Jewish coins. But from 132AD they decided not to continue to use Roman coins- they began to make their own Jewish coins with Jewish symbols and writings.
In 135 A.D the Romans arrived in the Judean desert and put Bar Kochva, his very last soldiers and the Jews who lived in the caves under siege. They had only 2 options: option 1: to come out of the caves and to give themselves into the hands of the Romans. They knew that the Roman for sure would kill them. option 2: to stay and die in the caves. nowadays we know that all of them, including Bar Kochva himself, choose option 2. according to the scrolls found in Wadi Murbaat (Judean desert near Bethlehem), scrolls of command written by Bar Kochva to his people- he ordered them to stay and die in the caves. This is what they all did: after they run out of water and food – the died in the caves and this was the end of the Bar Kochva revolt in 135 A.D.
135 A.D this also was the end of the Jewish state -till 1948 when the new state of Israel was born. to emphasize this very important point: 132-135A.D : during the 3.5 years of Bar Kochva revolt this was the last time , till 1948, that the Jews had an independent state- ISRAEL with Bar Kochva as the president
in 1952 Bedouin shepherds found in a cave in wadi Murbaat near Bethlehem the first missive / epistle that connected to Bar Kochva revolt. .
In 1952 , regardless of the above, some French archaeologists started excavations in Qumran ( north west side of the dead sea). That area was under Jordan control until 1967. when the Bedouins saw the archeologists digging they understood that it is profitable to dig as well. So this is how they found the missive in Wadi Murbaat and showed it to the chief archaeologist: Mr Rolan De Voo. The missive the Bedouin found is from 132-135A.D, written in Hebrew by Bar Kochva himself !!!!! he signed his name in Hebrew at the bottom of it !! That was a warning order that Bar Kochva wrote to his people in the Judean desert.
It was written on papyrus. Mr De Voo asked the Bedouins where they found this missive and they told him about the cave in Wadi Murbaat. Mr De Voo decided to go there in order to make some new excavations. He dug in 2 caves: in these 2 caves he found 175 documents ( all of them from 132-135 A.D) that were brought to the caves by Jewish refugees that escaped from Galilee and Jerusalem. These documents are in the Rockefeller Museum Jerusalem.
Since 1967 the Judean desert has been under Israeli control. Since then many Israeli archaeologists excavated Wadi Murbaat. the dug in many other more caves from Jericho in the north to wadi Tzeelim in the south. Until today we found 505 scrolls and missives from 132-135A.D- Bar Kochva time: 35 biblical scrolls: Genesis, exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, Isaiah and 12 minor prophets. These scrolls were written in Hebrew and brought by the Jewish refugees and written on animals’ skin +400 missives: These were brought by the Jewish refugees, and written on papyrus. These are economic certificates, legal certificates, receipts, promissory notes, lease notes, divorce etc. the missives are written in Hebrew. remember that before 132A.D- in Aramaic. in some of the missives we find words in Aramaic. why? because not all of them spoke and understood perfect Hebrew. some already forgot. so when they had to clarify something, in order to make sure that everyone understood -they wrote in Aramaic + 70 letters and missives written by Bar Kochva himself :letters of commands, names of army commanders on Bar Kochva”s behalf in Herodion and Ein-Gedi and more. some of them were written on animal skin and some on papyrus. Many of them were written in Aramaic and some in Hebrew. This is very exciting because all of these 70 letters and missives are signed in Hebrew by Bar Kochva himself !!! we see his original Hebrew signature.
We see and learn in the above 505 scrolls and missives:
1) The revival of the Hebrew language.
2) Except the 35 biblical- all the other scrolls and missive start:” In the year _ of Bar Kochva revolt the president of Israel ” – so we know the exact year when every scroll / missive was written
3) Array of earners, army commanders, ownership of land, issuance and minting of coins until year 3 of the revolt convergence to the borders of Judea and in the very last scroll- the bitter destruction.
This is what is known as a state. the state of Israel with Bar Kochva the president. this state of Israel existed until 135 A.D for 3.5 years.
New state of Israel was born in 1948.
Except for the above scrolls and missives archaeologists found many other interesting items in the caves:
* Skeletons and skulls of women, children and men. some of them- the last soldiers of Bar Kochva
* Iron and bronze weapons like swords, spears, arrowheads etc.
* Remains of animal’s bones like sheep goats etc.
* Remains of wicker baskets, mattresses, combs, mirrors, and gold jewelry
*Remains of Roman glass
*Ancient coins from the time of Bar Kochva revolt
The Bar Kochva coins 132-135A.D:
As an act of independence from 132AD they decided not to continue to use Roman coins- they began to make their own Jewish coins with Jewish symbols and writings. Many of the coins were made of bronze, some – silver. They began to put symbols that relate to the Temple service and to the agricultural produce of the land of Israel. On every coin they put inscriptions employed which are very emotive such as ” for the freedom of Israel “, “for the redemption of Israel “, “for the freedom of Jerusalem”. the inscriptions are in Hebrew.
One of the most popular, special unique bronze coins of this series depicts on one side of the coin: a vine leaf with the inscription (ancient Hebrew) ” year two of the freedom of Israel ” i.e., this coin is from the year 133-134 A.D. On the other side of the coin: A palm tree with the inscription ” Shim’on” i.e.: Simeon Bar Kochva!
The vine leaf and the palm tree are two of the seven agricultural species of the land of Israel. GOD blessed the land of Israel with seven species.
This coin with the two species with the inscriptions compatible with a time of national emergency.
