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2,000 Year-Old Catapult Ammunition Returned to Museum

Thief surrenders stolen artefacts twenty years after theft

A thief has returned archeological loot he stole to Israeli authorities twenty years after the theft in what appears to have been an attempt to assuage a guilty conscience.

Amos Cohen, a member of the staff at the Museum of Islamic and Near Eastern Cultures in Be’er Sheva, found a seemingly discarded bag outside his workplace recently. Checking out its contents, Cohen discovered a pair of 2,000-year old rocks and an anonymous typewritten letter that read, “These are two Roman ballista balls from Gamla, from a residential quarter at the foot of the summit. I stole them in July 1995 and since then they have brought me nothing but trouble,” the robber confessed.

Alongside the message was a brochure from the Gamla archeological site with a cross marked on a map printed inside, presumably marking the site from where the culprit snatched the historic relics. There was no clue found in the message explaining what had brought about the purported perpetrator’s change of heart, although there was an admonition for anyone who might follow in his footsteps: “Please, do not steal antiquities!”

Dr. Dalia Manor, director of the museum, handed over the objects to the Israel Antiquities Authority. No forensic tests were performed on the ballista rocks, meaning that the identity of the thief-turned-donor will likely never be revealed. “I didn’t think it was a police matter,” Manor told The Media Line. “[The individual] understood he did something wrong. Maybe something changed in his life and he thought stealing from the public is not a good thing – that’s nice.”

Photo: Dr. Dalia Manor, the Museum of Islamic and Near Eastern Cultures [1]

Photo: Dr. Dalia Manor, the Museum of Islamic and Near Eastern Cultures

The “ballista” was a primitive crossbow used during the time of the Roman Legion that could fire a spherical rock or a large arrow over a distance of several hundred yards, crushing or impaling its target. Archeologists told The Media Line that almost 2,000 ballista rocks have been found during digs at the Gamla Nature Reserve on Israel’s northern Golan Heights.

“Romans shot these stones at the defenders of (a) city in order to keep them away from the wall, and in that way (the legionaries) could approach the wall and break it with a battering ram,” explained Dr. Danny Syon, of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

One of the most iconic modern depictions of a ballista battery in action can be found in the opening scenes of Ridley Scot’s movie, “Gladiator,” where the Roman legion uses the devices to bombard a Germanic tribe during a pitched battle in the forests of northern Europe.

“There are many open (archeological) sites in Israel. The public goes to these sites (where) you can find artefacts, coins, jewelry. If you try to do it, you can find it,” Dr. Michael Sebbane, chief director of national treasures at IAA, told The Media Line. He explained that although under Israeli law any archeological artefacts found outside must be handed over to the state, many people still collect items regardless. So much so, that a general amnesty and collection from kibbutzim (collective communities) across Israel in the 1990s turned up more than 20,000 items.

But only a small number of people who take protected objects relinquish them to the authorities in subsequent years. And interestingly, Sebbane says it’s not uncommon for repentant relic thieves to cite the ensuing bad luck that accompanied their sin as the reason for returning the plunder.

When asked if she had a message to send to the amateur rock collector, Dr. Dalia Manor said that she was pleased the offender had realized that pilfering public property still constituted stealing. Then the museum director thanked the unknown individual.  “Better late, than never,” she concluded.