Authorities said this week they caught two antiquities looters in the act of illegally excavating at the Horvat Hermesh archaeological site in northern Israel, and then had to take shelter with the suspects as air raid sirens sounded and defensive missile interceptions lit the sky overhead.
The incident took place near the Elyakim Interchange, southeast of Haifa, at a site where remains of a settlement from the Roman and Byzantine periods, dating from the 1st century to the early 7th century A.D., have previously been uncovered, the Israel Antiquities Authority said.
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The ancient finds discovered with the suspects at Horvat Hadarim
(Photo: Border Police)
According to the authority, its Northern Region Theft Prevention Unit received information that looters were at the site. A team that included an antiquities inspector, an Israel Nature and Parks Authority inspector and a security patrol officer from the Megiddo Regional Council arrived and found the two suspects carrying out an illegal excavation in a pit about 2 meters deep near the remains of what appeared to be an ancient agricultural installation, possibly an oil press.
Authorities said the digging damaged archaeological layers and shattered ancient pottery.
After the suspects were detained, Israel Border Police forces were called to assist in transferring them for further questioning. But during the trip to the police station, sirens sounded, forcing the antiquities inspectors, Border Police officers, the suspects and other civilians to crowd into a small shelter as missile interceptions could be heard and seen in the background. About 30 people remained inside until the danger passed.
The suspects were later questioned at the Zikhron Yaakov police station. Authorities said excavation equipment was seized and the investigation is continuing.
In a separate case on the Carmel Coast, two other suspects from the nearby Arab town of Fureidis were caught searching for antiquities with metal detectors and digging tools at the Horvat Hadarim site in the Khorvat Drakhmon Nature Reserve, authorities said.
In that operation, soldiers from the Israel Border Police Coastal District Settlement Protection Unit and an Israel Nature and Parks Authority inspector also assisted, the Antiquities Authority said. The suspects were found with antiquities that authorities said appeared to have been freshly looted from the site.
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Israel Antiquities Authority inspector Nir Distelfeld beside the shelter
(Photo: Eitan Klein/Israel Antiquities Authority)
The antiquities and the search equipment were confiscated, the suspects were detained for questioning and the case file will be transferred to prosecutors for consideration of possible charges, the authority said.
Nir Distelfeld, the Northern Region supervisor for the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Theft Prevention Unit, said some people were trying to exploit a period of war and insecurity for personal gain.
“Surrealistically, even in such tense times, when security forces and citizens are faced with life-threatening issues, there are those who try to exploit the situation and search for antiquities in order to become enriched, while harming Israel’s heritage sites,” he said. “The Israel Antiquities Authority’s Theft Prevention Unit continues its activities on an ongoing basis, even during the war, with the aim of protecting the country’s cultural assets and past.”
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The destruction caused by the looters at the antiquities site Horvat Hermesh
(Photo: Eitan Klein/Israel Antiquities Authority)
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu condemned the suspects and praised the inspectors and Border Police officers involved in the arrests.
“Antiquities robbers are not ordinary criminals, but rather saboteurs of history,” he said. “The nation of Israel is proud of the inspectors of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Border Police soldiers who are fighting an unforgiving struggle even while the sky thunders with missiles.”
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