Strata: Grave Robbers Nabbed

In an unlikely turn of events, the ultra-Orthodox Zaka^a organization, whose members gather the remains of victims after terrorist attacks and other disasters, and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), who are often at odds with each other over the excavation of ancient Jewish graves, found themselves cooperating this past spring when two looters approached Zaka representatives to sell them four ancient inscribed ossuaries, or burial boxes, with bones still inside.

The two thieves, who, it was later revealed, were residents of the east Jerusalem village of Issawyia, told Zaka director Yehuda Meshi-Zahav they were from the West Bank city of Nablus (ancient Shechem), where they claimed they had found the ossuaries. They wanted $1000 for each box, Meshi-Zahav said.

“We started negotiating with them and at the same time turned to the IAA and the Israeli Border Police for help, but they said they couldn’t help us because Nablus is under Palestinian control,” said Meshi-Zahav.

Zaka told the thieves it would need to see evidence of the burial boxes before it agreed to payment, so a meeting was arranged in Issiwyia, where Zaka representatives were shown one of the ossuaries.