ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY: Column: Cave 25 and the oldest Bible verses (Current in Carmel). Ha ha, fooled you! You were thinking this referred to a Qumran Cave 25 and you were wondering how you missed news about 11 or 12 new caves. Don't worry, you haven't missed anything.
This article is actually about the silver amulet scrolls discovered at Ketef Hinnom by Gabriel Barkay in the 1970s. And yes, those scrolls contain the earliest surviving copies of a biblical text, the priestly blessing in Numbers 6:24-26. For many past PaleoJudaica posts on them, start here and follow the links.
I knew the scrolls were found in a cave, but I didn't know (or perhaps had forgotten) that it was called Cave 25.
