The discovery was made during the construction of a park in the coastal town of Palmahim, south of this capital, the institution said in a statement. The burial cave is mostly intact, but several items were stolen in the past, Eli Yannai, an IAA Bronze Age expert, said.

The cave offers a complete picture of funerary traditions at the end of the Bronze Age, Yannai stressed.

The area during that period was controlled by the 19th Egyptian dynasty, which allowed safe conditions for large-scale trade. These economic and social processes are well reflected in the cave findings, the IAA said.

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