In ancient times, small clay objects known as bullae were used to seal scrolls and to identify their authors. An Israeli archaeologist, along with his son, recently discovered an enormous trove of bullae in a cave located in the ancient Judean city of Mareshah. According to experts, the original scrolls had disintegrated while the bullae survived. Amanda Borschel-Dan writes:

An initial survey of 300 of the 1,020 clay sealings indicates they were strung on documents from a large private archive. The quantity and quality of the new, almost unprecedented hoard of sealings is rare on an international scale. . . .

Located in Israel’s Sh’feylah region in the foothills of the Judean Mountains, Mareshah, today a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site, was once a culturally diverse city with a small Jewish population at the crossroads of [Alexander the Great’s] empire. . . . Mostly dating to the time of the Maccabees, previous “incredibly rich” artifacts discovered at the site come from corners of the empire as far-flung as the Black Sea. . . .

[The bullae, which] primarily date from the 2nd century BCE, depict images of gods, including Athena, Aphrodite, and Apollo, as well as erotic themes, masks, standing figures, and cornucopia. There were a few with Greek letters and numbers indicating dates, but as yet none of the sealings have been found with other written inscriptions.

[Mareshah] was conquered by Jews [during the Maccabean revolt, around 160 BCE] and abandoned in 107 BCE by King John Hyrcanus I. Roman-era pottery discovered at the site give indications that the cave complex was also used by Jews weathering the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132-135 CE.

On Tuesday, a Hizballah drone attack injured three people in northern Israel. The next day, another attack, targeting an IDF base, injured eighteen people, six of them seriously, in Arab al-Amshe, also in the north. This second attack involved the simultaneous use of drones carrying explosives and guided antitank missiles. In both cases, the defensive systems that performed so successfully last weekend failed to stop the drones and missiles. Ron Ben-Yishai has a straightforward explanation as to why: the Lebanon-backed terrorist group is getting better at evading Israel defenses. He explains the three basis systems used to pilot these unmanned aircraft, and their practical effects:

These systems allow drones to act similarly to fighter jets, using “dead zones”—areas not visible to radar or other optical detection—to approach targets. They fly low initially, then ascend just before crashing and detonating on the target. The terrain of southern Lebanon is particularly conducive to such attacks.

But this requires skills that the terror group has honed over months of fighting against Israel. The latest attacks involved a large drone capable of carrying over 50 kg (110 lbs.) of explosives. The terrorists have likely analyzed Israel’s alert and interception systems, recognizing that shooting down their drones requires early detection to allow sufficient time for launching interceptors.

The IDF tries to detect any incoming drones on its radar, as it had done prior to the war. Despite Hizballah’s learning curve, the IDF’s technological edge offers an advantage. However, the military must recognize that any measure it takes is quickly observed and analyzed, and even the most effective defenses can be incomplete. The terrain near the Lebanon-Israel border continues to pose a challenge, necessitating technological solutions and significant financial investment.