Iron keys from the Roman Province of Iudaea/Palaestina: a typological and technological study

Abstract

In the early 1960s, Yigael Yadin excavated a number of caves at Nahal Hever in the Judean Desert, containing evidence for the final days of refugees from the Bar-Kokhba Revolt against Rome (132–136 CE). The artifacts they chose to take with them into the wilderness were fantastically preserved, including 10 iron keys, pointing to their hope to return to their homes. Since then, dozens of iron keys have been found in excavations at the region. They comprise a varied corpus of shapes and sizes, yet this diversity has gone unnoticed. In this study, we provide a typological analysis of the keys and argue that distinct types relate to chronological periods with evident diachronic changes. Moreover, we suggest that elbow keys are a local type of Roman Iudaea, with recognizable spatial boundaries, and possibly used solely by the local Jewish population. In addition, we reconstruct how the keys were produced and why, by applying X-ray radiography and metallography. The local smiths utilized easily workable soft iron, in order to fabricate the artifacts’ complex shapes. It was also less likely to break, a timeless benefit when it comes to keys.