Archaeologists find 2,100-year-old bullet in Israel with sarcastic message to enemies

Archaeologists have uncovered a 2,100-year-old sling bullet in Israel inscribed with a pointed message aimed at enemy forces.The scientists found the bullet in a necropolis area along an ancient road at Hippos, once a prominent bishop’s seat during the Byzantine era.The city was known as Susita during the Hellenistic period, which lasted from 323 B.C.

to about 31 B.C.The projectile, which officials date to the second century B.C., was carved with the Greek word “Learn,” according to a press release obtained by Fox News Digital.A picture of the ancient, oval-shaped lead sling bullet shows faint traces of the Greek script.Michael Eisenberg, a University of Haifa archaeologist who recently published his findings in the journal PEQ along with colleague Arleta Kowalewska, believes the phrase was a “sarcastic” taunt, he said.“At Hippos alone, 69 such projectiles have been identified so far, but this is the first in the world to bear the inscription ‘Learn,'” Eisenberg said, per the March release.“This represents local sarcastic humor on the part of the city’s defenders, who wished to teach their enemies a lesson with a wink: ‘Learn your lesson!’”The artifact is roughly 3.2 centimeters long and 1.95 centimeters wide, weighing 38 grams.Excavators observed signs of impact damage on the projectile and believe it once weighed 45 grams.The projectile was likely “fired by the city’s defenders from the city walls toward the enemy advancing to besiege the city,” officials said.Lead bullets were considered a cheap but lethal form of ammunition at the time.“Sling bullets were produced by casting lead in stone molds in a relatively simple process that could be carried out even during a military campaign,” the release noted.Officials said that “many projectiles were decorated with the name of a military commander, the name of a city, sarcastic humor similar to ‘Catch!’ or symbols intended to imbue them with power, such as a trident, lightning...