Archaeologists digging in the ancient city of Tzipori revealed Monday an old weapons cache containing sub-machine guns and ammunition.
It is thought to have belonged to a soldier who fought in Operation Kadesh, which took place in the Sinai peninsula in October of 1956.
'Weapons were well-oiled.' (Photo: Antiquities' Authority)
The dig was part of an attempt to salvage as many historic relics as possible before the expansion of Israel's northern Highway 79. So far a number of treasures have been discovered, such as a skull dating back to 4,000 BC and a number of caves used as Roman burial grounds.
The cache, however, was an irregular discovery. Archaeologists found a truck tire stocked with three Karl Gustav submachine guns inscribed in Arabic and magazines holding 9 mm bullets.
"The person who hid them away made sure to oil them and wrap them in a preserving fabric," said Dror Barshad, who heads the Antiquities' Authority's northern branch.
Police sappers were alerted to the scene shortly after the find in order to make sure the weapons were not in danger of exploding. A weapons expert told Ynet the guns were manufactured in Egypt in the 1950's.