JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli Antiquities Authority unveiled 11 ancient burial boxes Monday that were seized by police who broke up an apparent attempt to illegally sell them.
Officials say the boxes, or ossuaries, are 2,000 years old. Some are engraved with designs and even names, giving clues to their origin and contents. The boxes contain bone fragments and remnants of what experts say is pottery buried with the deceased.
The authority says the boxes were recovered last Friday in Jerusalem when police observed a suspicious nighttime transaction involving two cars, four individuals and the 11 boxes near a checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
