A family who was digging in their garden accidentally found a complex of underground stables in the Israeli village of Eilabun. The entrance of the stables was hidden about nine feet underground, Newsweek reports, but years of dirt and silt slowly covered and concealed the stables for centuries.
Archaeologists led by Nir Distelfeld said the man-made caves were probably used for storage, based on the remains found in them, Newsweek reports. But they were also used to house livestock, because there are holes chiseled into the cave walls. These holes would have been were animals would be tied to. Newsweek writes that a stone trough would have laid below them for food and water.
Once alerted to the discovery of the site, experts used pottery shards to date the site to the first century A.D., around the time Jesus is thought to have lived in the area. Newsweek reports that the caves would have been used in the time of the Second Temple, which the Romans destroyed in 70 A.D.
Eilabun lies 11 miles from Nazareth, which is where the New Testament claims Jesus grew up.
According to Newsweek, excavators also uncovered a local synagogue. However, any further opportunities for discoveries in the caves were ruined by robbers and pilfers at the site. The archaeological inspects said the stables were pillaged before they arrived, writes Newsweek, and the vandals even tore out certain sections of the rock hoping to find artifacts. Two arrests have been made in connection to the thefts.
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