MBA incised reed recovered from Wadi Murabbaʿat Cave 2

ORGANIC MATERIAL CULTURE: Mysterious 3,700-Year-Old Decorated Reed Revealed in Judaean Desert Cave First of its kind in the Southern Levant, the Middle Bronze Age object still keeps its purpose secret (oguz kayra, Arkeonews).

A slender reed fragment found deep inside a cave in the Judaean Desert has emerged as one of the most unusual objects known from the Middle Bronze Age Southern Levant. It is small, fragile, and incomplete, yet its incised surface carries a set of deliberate designs that have survived for nearly 3,700 years in the dry darkness of Wadi Murabbaʿat Cave 2.

A new study published in Tel Aviv identifies the object as the first known reed item from this period ever reported in the Southern Levant. Radiocarbon dating places it between 1743 and 1542 BCE, in the second half of the Middle Bronze Age. Its exact purpose remains unresolved, but the evidence points to an object that was handled, decorated, and possibly connected to a ritual or funerary setting.

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The Tel Aviv article is open access:

A Decorated Middle Bronze Age Reed from Wadi Murabbaʿat

Matthew Susnow, Roi Porat & Uri Davidovich
Published online: 08 Jul 2026
Cite this article https://doi.org/10.1080/03344355.2026.2620264

Abstract

This paper presents a recently discovered incised reed object from Wadi Murabbaʿat Cave 2, in the northern Judaean Desert, that dates to the early second millennium BCE. This is the first reed object from this period to be discovered in the Southern Levant. The incised decorations recall decorative motifs known from a plethora of objects of different materials, functionality and contexts. The reed belongs to a small group of Middle Bronze Age objects found in the cave in the 1950s, many of which are found in contemporaneous burials, including at Jericho. The study argues that the object was likely produced on site, and not by a professional craftsperson. The precise meaning of the object remains unknown, but the pervasiveness of the reed’s decorations within the artistic traditions of the region suggests a widespread cultural template that was rooted in long-term regional symbolism.

And if an incised decorated reed could survive in this environment, why not an inscribed papyrus or parchment scroll? Such things existed in the Middle Bronze Age. Several complete literary compositions survive in scrolls from the Middle Kingdom in Egypt. Fragments too. And a scroll of the Egyptian Book of the Dead dating to the New Kingdom has turned up recently.

Comparably old (c. 1600 BCE) organic remains have been found at Megiddo. And quite early (tenth century BCE) remains in the Timna Valley. And more generally, see here and links.

I would like to think it's only a matter of time before scrolls from the Iron Age or even earlier turn up in Israel. We'll see.

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