The four swords had hilts made of leather and wood and were in wooden scabbards. Experts said that the swords were of the type used by Roman soldiers who were stationed in Judea. And yet, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said that it could have been Judean rebels wielding the swords against occupying Rome, perhaps in a 1st Century B.C. uprising known as the Bar Kokhba Revolt. Under that scenario, the rebels would have hidden the swords so they wouldn't be found by Roman investigators.

Ancient Rome conquered Jerusalem in 63 B.C., when Rome was still a Republic. The Romans functioned more as overlords, leaving the governing to a series of Judean leaders, including the famous figures Herod the Great and Pontius Pilate. The Judean people revolted a handful of times during Roman rule. After the Bar Kokhba Revolt, in the 130s (a consequence of which was the destruction of Jerusalem), Rome melded the province of Judea with Galilee, creating the province of Syria Palaestina.

Archaeologists found the four swords, along with a javelin-like weapon known as a pilum, in deep cracks in a little-used cave north of 'En Gedi.

Antiquities researchers continue to investigate.