Archaeologists have made an astounding discovery. Lost dead sea scroll fragments, along with the mummified remains of a child who lived about 6,000 years ago, were discovered at a legendary site in Israel known as the “Cave of Horror.”

The agency, that made this discovery during a scientific excavation, found about 80 fragments of biblical texts. These were the first new Dead Sea Scrolls uncovered in more than half a century. Scholars were amazed by the 1,900-year-old fragments.

The mummified child’s skin, tendons, and even some hair were partially preserved. The child appears to be between 6 and 12 years old.

“This is a historic discovery, on an international level at this time,” Raz Frohlich, the Ministry of Sports and Culture director, shared in a news release.

The Dead Seas Scrolls are a colossal collection of ancient writings. The 972 scrolls contain the oldest known copy of the Hebrew Bible.
“We found a textual difference that has no parallel with any other manuscript, either in Hebrew or Greek,” Oren Ableman, a Dead Sea Scroll researcher with the Israel Antiquities Authority shared with The Associated Press.

“Another exciting aspect about this scroll is that despite most of the text being in Greek, the name of God appears in ancient Hebrew script, known from the times of the First Temple in Jerusalem,” the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement.

One of the fragments contained a passage from Zechariah 8:16-17, which said, “These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another, render true and perfect justice in your fates. And do not contrive evil against one another, and do no love perjury, because all those are things that I hate – declares the Lord.”

Another fragment included a passage from Nahum 1:5-6 which says, “The mountains quake because of Him, and the hills melt. The earth heaves before Him, the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before His wrath? Who can resist His fury? His anger pours out like fire, and rocks are shattered because of Him.”

Zechariah and Nahum were two of the Twelve Minor Prophets referenced in Hebrew Scripture and the Old Testament in the Christian Bible.

The cave was the last place dozens of Jewish rebels during the Bar Kokhba Revolt against Roman Emperor Hadrian from 132-136 AD, the Huffington Post reports. During the excavations in the 1960s, dozens of skeletons were found, which led to the cave’s dark nickname.

Archaeologists also discovered a 10,000-year-old woven basket. This is believed to be the oldest of its kind.