The
Shfela lowlands in south-central Israel, at the foot of the Judaean Mountains,
is characterized by a thick layer of soft chalk that was extensively quarried in
the past by the local population leaving the underground hollow like a piece of
cheese. There are more than a thousand caves here underneath the former towns
of Maresha and Bet Guvrin situated on the crossroads of the trade routes that
led to Mesopotamia and Egypt. These quarried caves served as cisterns, oil
presses, baths, dovecotes, stables, places of religious worship, hideaways and,
on the outskirts of the towns, burial areas. The caves are now one of the main
attraction of this area.
The
city of Maresha is mentioned in the Bible during the time of the First Temple.
During the Roman and Byzantine Eras the city became known Eleutherolis, a city
of freeman with a large Jewish population. In modern times, the site was
occupied by a Palestinian Arab village called Bayt Jibrin until it was
depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Today Maresha is part of the Beit
Guvrin National Park, where many of the ancient city's olive presses,
columbaria and water cisterns can still be seen.
Some
of the famous caves at Beit Guvrin are.
The
Polish Cave
This
cave once served as a dove cote with tiny niches carved into the cistern walls
to raise doves. Later during the Second World War, Polish soldiers in exile
visited the cave and carved the figure 1943, the year of their visit, into a
stone pillar, along with an inscription: “Warsaw, Poland” and an eagle, the
symbol of the Polish army.
The
Columbarium Cave
A
columbarium is a place to raise doves. The word comes from the Latin “colomba”,
which means dove. The walls of this cave feature over 2,000 niches.
The
raising of doves was very common in the Judean lowlands during the Hellenistic
period. Doves were used intensively – their meat and eggs as food and their
droppings as fertilizer. Doves were also sacrificed in rituals. There are some
85 columbarium caves in Maresha with tens of thousands of niches.
The
Oil Press Cave
This
is one of 22 underground oil presses discovered in Hellenistic Maresha. Olive
growing was a significant source of income in Hellenistic Maresha (3rd to 2nd
centuries BC), but the caves are older still. Olives are first placed in a rock
basin and crushed from above with another rock. The crushed olives were then
put into woven baskets and squished under a broad beam. The oil and water extracted
were collected in rock hewn basins beneath the baskets.
Bell
Caves
These
are the most famous caves of the Bet Guvrin area, so called because of their
characteristic bell shape. The caves were used mainly as quarries and provided
building material for cities on the coastal plain and for Bet Guvrin itself.
There are at least 800 bell shaped caves in the park area, some of which are
linked by underground tunnels.
Other
Structures
Aside
from caves, the Bet Guvrin area contains a Byzantine-era church dedicated to
Saint Anne, now in ruins, a Roman amphitheater with a seating capacity for
3,500 spectators, a Crusader fortress and a Roman-era bathhouse covering over
4,000 square meters.
The
entire archaeological site containing some 3,500 underground chambers is listed
as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
No comments:
Post a Comment