Guides of the Kefar Etzion Field School found minorities engaging in antiquities theft, Sunday, from the ancient community of Hurbath Umm Al-Amad between the Judean Jewish community of Tekoa and the Dead Sea. Among the antiquities being removed are coins from the Bar Cochba period.
The guides said the robbers dug meters into the ground at the side, until they reached the huge water holes used by the ancient members of the community. The field school said it would create a department to eliminate the phenomenon, while admitting that the robbers were sophisticated and would be hard to find. Field school manager Yaron Rosenthal said, "The government must reifnorce theAntiquities Authority's anti-looting unit immediatelybecauseantiquities theftdestroys archaeological sites without the possibility of rehabilitating themandwelose the ability totrace thehistory ofthis country."