Second Temple

Unusual Iron Keys Found in Israel Linked to 2nd Century Bar-Kokhba Revolt

House keys, from Cave of the Letters, Nahal Hever (132-135 AD), in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
Nathan Falde
Nathan Falde
April
28
/ 2025
In the 1960s, Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin uncovered an extraordinary cache of artifacts inside the Cave of Letters in the Judean Desert. Among the relics left behind by Jewish refugees fleeing the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (132–136 AD) were 10 iron keys, which were apparently used as house keys. These keys, carried by desperate families seeking refuge, symbolized a profound hope — that one day they would be able to return to reclaim their abandoned homes, once the revolt had succeeded (which it ultimately did not). Since Yadin’s discovery, dozens more of these iron keys have been unearthed throughout Judea, revealing a previously overlooked diversity in ancient key manufacturing technology. A recent study of the keys published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
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