Archaeologists from Tel Azekah recently published an article in Palestine Exploration Quarterly in which they report the discovery of a mass grave of children that dates to the Persian era. The skeletal remains of between 68 and 89 children were discovered in a cistern that was dated to the fifth century BC based on the pottery and other small finds recovered nearby. According to the osteological analysis, 90 percent of the children were under five years of age, and 70 percent were less than two years old. The authors of the study propose that, “during the Persian period, the cistern functioned mainly as a mass burial site for infants who were not granted individual interments since they were not yet weaned.” They ruled out the possibility that the children were buried as a result of human sacrificial rituals, as there was no evidence of cut marks or burning on the bones; such diagnostic indicators are present in other archaeological sacrificial contexts. Before the Babylonian invasion and subsequent exile, Azekah was an important city in Judah (Jer. 34:7).
Source: https://doi.org/10.1080/00310328.2025.2589646
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