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Contents
Location
In the Beit Guvrin National Park, a few hundred meters from the parking lot.
Participants
Yerushalmi (talk) and #3-5
Plans
The Beit Guvrin National Park contains a bunch of nature trails, but the important part is the cave complexes: the remains of the 2000-year-old city of Maresha (built first by the Israelites, then conquered in turn by the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Maccabees, before the city was abandoned).
It's the perfect distance from Jerusalem for a day trip. So a day trip we will make of it. I asked the kids if they want to skip school and go see it (it closes too early to visit only after school ends), and the three youngest ones agreed.
The English-language guidesheet and map for the area can be found here: https://static.parks.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/brochureEn-9.pdf
Expedition
This was an absolutely perfect day from start to finish.
The night before I had a massive allergy attack (as is my wont), and didn't sleep much thanks to swelled sinuses. So I slept in a bit, but at around 10:00 got up, made the kids' sandwiches, stuffed my purple hiking backpack with bottled water and salami. It was about an hour's drive to the park. We paid 70 shekels for entry.
Since the point was near the parking lot, we went there first. There was a bit of worry, because the parking lot was surrounded by fencing and it was possibly forbidden to go in that direction, but we found a place without a fence and walked around it. There were a lot of thorns, but we made it to the point fairly easily, and even saw (from the outside) a cave that wasn't part of the official trail.
The purpose of our trip completed, we went home.
Just kidding.
We went first to the picnic area, where they had models of agricultural implements of the period. I explained to the kids how those worked, and #5 even corrected me when I got one of the details wrong. We then and ate lunch, giving bits of food to the birds that naturally congregated in the picnic area because they know they'll get food. From there we began on the official trail.
Stop #1: The "Polish Cave", so-called because a unit of the Polish Army visited the cave during WWII and left an inscription there. #3 and #4 went down the stairs and into the cave fearlessly (I warned them several times to hold onto the railing at all times, because the original stone steps can be slippery). #5 was too scared to enter; the brightness differential between the sun outside and the shade inside gave her the impression it was pitch black. However, I convinced her to go down just one more step, then another, then another, until her eyes adjusted and she realized the cave wasn't dark at all. From there she gladly went down the steps on her own.
The cave was originally used as a cistern for collecting rainwater, then at some point was changed into a dovecote. Sadly, the Polish Army's inscription was hard to read because of the hundreds or thousands of inscriptions that have been left by park visitors since then.
The rock with the Polish Army inscription
The cave was first a cistern, then modified into a dovecote
Stop #2: The "Bathtub Cave" (we had to skip the Columbarium Cave, as it was closed for structural repairs). It consists of a short hallway leading to two small rooms used for bathing. The hallway had holes in the walls through which servants could pour water without being able to see the bather directly. The water which would run down a canal and onto the bather's head for a shower-like experience.
A bathtub in the bathtub cave, with a small bench to sit on
The hole through which servants would pour water onto the bather
Stop #3: The "Oil Press Cave", a massive underground hall with an olive mill, olive presses, and a threshing floor.
Olive presses
Olive mill, #5 standing in the background
Some kind of threshing floor, maybe? Storage room? Stable for the donkeys that used the mill? It's bigger than it looks.
Alcove
Stop #4: "The Villa", a reconstructed house from Tel Maresha, with an underground complex of several rooms used for water storage and other purposes.
Stairs going down
At the bottom of an ancient cistern. You can see the markings on the walls, remnants of how the water poured through holes to fill it
An alcove for storage
More caves (with a modern metal beam to keep the ceiling up)
Same cave
Storage room, with lights
Enormous storage room
Overlooking a large number of underground rooms
After the Villa I needed a bit of a rest; I was still sleep-deprived from the night before. The kids talked and played for a bit while I laid down on a bench.
Stop #5: "The Maze", a massive underground complex with dozens upon dozens of rooms. This took more than an hour to navigate and we loved every moment of it. You had cisterns, where rainwater was routed from the surface into the pool in very clever ways to ensure that the stairwell that led down into the pool remained dry and not slippery; ritual baths; more olive presses, storage rooms of many sizes that would have been used for casks of wine or piles of dried grain and fruit and meat; small bathtubs; many many dovecotes; and rooms that had been clearly changed over from one use to another. The kids showed absolutely no fear, climbing up and down 2000-year-old circular stairs and exploring the underground remnants of the city that used to lie above it. #5 suggested multiple times that these caves looked like something from D&D; I don't know how she knows that, but she's right. (Some of the houses are still there, but the archaeologists reburied them after they were unearthed until they can find a way to safely open them to the public.)
'#4 and #5 descending into the maze
'#3, #4, #5 entering a room
'#3, #4, #5 entering a room
A shaft into this room; see File:20240505_140826.mp4 to get a better sense of its depth
Another enormous storage room
Stairwell leading into the storage room
Weird whitestone staircase
'#4 exploring a dovecote
No entry to this cave
Dovecote
A small hole in the wall, my guess is to plant a candle; no electric lights 2000 years ago!
Hole in the wall where water comes in
'#4 and #5 descending into the depths
'#3 exploring the cave
Panorama inside one of the largest caves. I did not do a good job with this photo.
'#3 standing above an olive mill
'#3 searching the walls for secret doors
Ancient stairwell leading up to what is now a dead end
After the Maze we walked down a large hill to the gift shop, where I got them snacks; #3 bought a guide to the spiders of Israel and #4 and #5 bought keychains.
Stop #6: "The Cave of the Musicians", consisting of an entrance hall and what looked like a stage overlooking an audience area. The cave had many alcoves, presumably used as green rooms.
Stop #7: "The Apollophanes Cave", a burial chamber for some ancient Greek guy and his family. There were alcoves for the burial procedures of the area described in the Talmud: The dead body was buried in an alcove, then a year later the bones were unearthed, collected in a large earthenware vessel, and buried elsewhere to make room for a new person. The cave was also covered in reconstructed paintings of bizarre mythical creatures (the originals began to fade once the tomb was reopened and exposed to air, and then were destroyed by vandals).
Sign for the Apollophanes cave
Reconstructed paintings on the walls of the tomb
Alcoves for temporary burial of dead people
More alcoves
Strange creatures
Lion with a human face, lizard with spikes growing out of its head, and a perfectly normal rhino
'#4 discovers Cerberus
After this we walked back to the car, where I discovered that #4 had drawn a heart in the dust on the window and written "אבא" (Dad) inside it, which made me melt a bit.
Stop #8: We drove to "The Northern Bell Cave". Upon parking we were warned that the park would be closing soon, so we had fifteen minutes to check both Bell Caves out. Luckily they were fairly simple: massive underground domes, a unique bell-shaped structure that was the result of quarrying done by the Byzantines and Muslims who ruled the land after the Roman Empire. At the time it could be entered only from above, using ropes; the park authorities created the side entrances so you could walk in and explore them properly.
The bell cave
Holes from one bell to another
The opening from the top
This hall is enormous
'#4 and #5 in the bell cave
The entrance to the bell cave
The central bell cave
'#3, #4, and #5 walking through
The Southern Bell Cave turned out to be closed for repairs, so we went back to the car and drove home. #4 and #5 fell asleep on the way; I fell asleep when I got home.
A perfect day.
Photos
Into the thorns we go!
Unmarked cave
Proof
Panorama at the point
Timeline of settlement in the area (read from right to left).
Example of an olive mill (modern)
Crow eating salami
The rock with the Polish Army inscription
The cave was first a cistern, then modified into a dovecote
A bathtub in the bathtub cave, with a small bench to sit on
The hole through which servants would pour water onto the bather
Olive presses
Olive mill, #5 standing in the background
Some kind of threshing floor, maybe? Storage room? Stable for the donkeys that used the mill? It's bigger than it looks.
Alcove
The view up top
Stairs going down
At the bottom of an ancient cistern. You can see the markings on the walls, remnants of how the water poured through holes to fill it
An alcove for storage
More caves (with a modern metal beam to keep the ceiling up)
Same cave
Storage room, with lights
Enormous storage room
Overlooking a large number of underground rooms
The view up top again
'#4 and #5 descending into the maze
'#3, #4, #5 entering a room
'#3, #4, #5 entering a room
A shaft into this room; see the accompanying video to get a better sense of its depth
Another enormous storage room
Stairwell leading into the storage room
Weird whitestone staircase
- 4 exploring a dovecote
No entry to this cave
Dovecote
A small hole in the wall, my guess is to plant a candle; no electric lights 2000 years ago!
Hole in the wall where water comes in
'#4 and #5 descending into the depths
'#3 exploring the cave
Panorama inside one of the largest caves. I did not do a good job with this photo.
'#3 standing above an olive mill
'#3 searching the walls for secret doors
Ancient stairwell leading up to what is now a dead end
Sign for the Apollophanes cave
Reconstructed paintings on the walls of the tomb
Alcoves for temporary burial of dead people
More alcoves
Strange creatures
Lion with a human face, lizard with spikes growing out of its head, and a perfectly normal rhino
'#4 discovers Cerberus
'#5 insisted that I take a photo of this modern trail marker
'#4 left me a love letter back at the car
Temporarily blocked by a herd of goats
Wider view of the goats
We're surrounded!
Surrounded by goats!
Meeeeeeeeeeehhhhhh!
Leave us alone!
The bell cave
Holes from one bell to another
The opening from the top
This hall is enormous
'#4 and #5 in the bell cave
The entrance to the bell cave
Cave not open to the public
The center bell cave (unmarked)
'#3, #4, and #5 walking through
Another unmarked cave
'#3 and #4 disappointed: the southern bell cave is closed
Sign explaining what the bell caves were for
Closeup
