Enigmatic 2,200-year-old ‘pyramid’ near Dead Sea may have been fortress for ancient taxman
Excavations by Israeli archaeologists at the mysterious Judean Desert site reveal artifacts suggesting it served as a post for tax collection and later, a Roman-era tomb
Rossella Tercatin is The Times of Israel's archaeology and religions reporter.
For 2,000 years, a heap of large stones standing on hills overlooking the Dead Sea remained almost untouched, a unique human-made mound in the serene landscape.
As part of a multi-year, widespread search for additional Dead Sea Scrolls in the Judean Desert, in recent weeks, a team of Israeli archaeologists has excavated the enigmatic pyramid-like structure near Nahal Zohar, 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) south of Masada.
Commonly believed to be a burial site, a wealth of remarkable artifacts, including papyri, bronze vessels, remains of ancient furniture, coins and textiles, has suggested the site was possibly originally used as a fortress defending an ancient road, and then reused as a monumental tomb centuries later, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced in a statement on Tuesday.
“The heap is five or six meters high above the surface of the hill, made of huge stones,” Dr. Eitan Klein told The Times of Israel over a phone interview. “We immediately noticed that someone had dug at the top of the structure, probably looters who had identified the grave.”
“At first, we thought the site could be just a tomb, but later, we noticed the shape of the original walls, and we understood that the structure was a building,” he added. “Eventually, we identified it as a tower or fortress dating back to the Hellenistic period, or 2,200 years ago.”
At the time, Israel was ruled by the Ptolemaic Kingdom, a Greek kingdom whose capital was the Egyptian city of Alexandria.
Archaeologists of the Israel Antiquities Authority excavating a 2,200-year-old site, north of Nahal Zohar in the Judean Desert in March 2025. (Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)
“We know that the main road linking Edom — modern-day Jordan — to Gaza passed directly beneath our structure,” said Klein, co-director of the excavation for the IAA alongside Matan Toledano and Amir Ganor. “We believe the building served to safeguard the road and may have been used by Ptolemaic officials to collect taxes from travelers.”
A piece of papyrus with Greek writing found by volunteers excavating a 2,200-year-old site north of Nahal Zohar in the Judean Desert in March 2025. (Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)
The recent excavation is part of a larger multi-year project to survey hundreds of caves and sites in the Judean Desert — part of which is located in the West Bank.
Funded by the Ministry of Heritage, the Judea and Samaria Civil Administration Archaeology Department, and the Israel Antiquities Authority, the operation aims to identify and save antiquities and archeological findings from looters. This phenomenon has been widespread in the area since the first Dead Sea Scrolls were found and removed from their original caves by Bedouin shepherds in the 1940s.
The extreme aridity of the desert creates ideal conditions for preserving organic materials that would otherwise decay over time. During the Judean Desert expedition, archaeologists have uncovered plenty of remarkable artifacts, including scrolls, papyri, textiles and an exceptionally well-preserved 10,000-year-old basket.
The IAA Robbery Prevention Unit’s survey team has so far scanned 180 kilometers of cliffs and identified approximately 900 caves. The Nahal Zohar region was first surveyed in the 1960s.
“Dr. Yohanan Aharoni at the time reported that he located pottery from the First Temple period [1200-586 BCE] but so far, we have not found any evidence of it,” said Klein.
Although looters reached it first, archaeologists still managed to recover a wealth of organic and inorganic findings, such as papyri fragments inscribed in Greek, wooden tools and fabrics.
While additional research is required to decipher the content of the papyri, Klein said that they might have been part of tax documents.
“Finding written records from such a long time ago is very rare, and the dream of every archaeologist,” he noted.
The archaeologists also unearthed a large quantity of coins, which helps in dating the building and determining its cultural affiliation.
“We found many Ptolemaic coins, as well as coins from the Seleucid kingdom, which ruled over Israel immediately afterward,” Klein said, noting that the building was in use in the 3rd and first half of the 2nd centuries BCE.
The Seleucid coins were minted under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the villain of the Hanukkah story, who was defeated by Judah Maccabee in 164 BCE, as Judah fought to restore Jewish rule over Judea.
“So far, we have not found any evidence of Hasmonean presence in the area,” said Klein. “Therefore, it is not possible to infer what caused the destruction of the building, if this happened in the context of the war against Antiochus or possibly due to other causes, such as an earthquake or a fire.”
After the structure collapsed and was abandoned, someone in Roman times thought the site would be suitable for a monumental grave.
“They likely were impressed by the beauty of the location and the structure,” said Klein. “While looters had already emptied the grave before we reached it, we were still able to uncover some artifacts connected to it.”
While the enigmas surrounding the building persist, the archaeologists continue to excavate the site, hoping to shed more light on who inhabited the remote fortress and for which purpose — as well as why it was chosen as the last place of rest for someone who lived in the Land of Israel some 2,000 years ago.
The Times of Israel Community.