Bet Guvrin: Bell Caves
This Earthcache is located inside the Bet Guvrin Nature Reserve. Please check current opening hours and entrance fees here.
The National Park extends over 500 hectares and within its boundaries are located the ancient sites of Maresha and Bet Guvrin with their many caves. The site is located in the basin of the Guvrin Stream, at the point of transition between the Low Shephela and the High Shephela, at an altitude of 820-1150 feet above sea level. For the history of Maresha and Bet Guvrin see here.
The bedrock here is soft limestone (kirton) tens of feet thick. Above it, weathering has created a cap of harder limestone (nari) 5-10 feet thick, which had to be removed in order to dig out the kirton underneath it. The softness of the natural bedrock enabled the digging out of great caves, varied in size and use. The rock quarried out of the caves was cut into building stones, while many of the hollow spaces left behind were used as industrial installations, water reservoirs, storerooms, for keeping cattle and beasts of burden and as burial caves. For more information about limestone look here.
The bell caves date to the Byzantine and Early Muslim period. Originally there were some 80 bell-shaped pits, connected by passageways to become vast underground networks. In the entire area there were about 800 Bell Caves, the maximum depth of which is 82 feet, and most of which were 40-50 feet deep. At first it was thought that the caves were used as water reservoirs, storehouses, dwellings or bunkers. Today however, it is clear that most of them were quarries, which supplied bulding materials to the cities of the Coastal Plain and to Bet Guvrin itself.
Quarrying was carried out through a narrow opening, and the perimeter of the pit broadened during the operation. This was done for several reasons: to ensure the pit against collapse, to prevent the limestone from drying out, to protect the quarrymen from climatic hazards and to provide them with a clear rounded contour for their progress, both safe and easy to quarry. The stone blocks were raised and removed from the cave by means of ropes. From the inscriptions in Arabic it is obvious that these were Christians fluent in Arabic. Most of the quarrying was done from the 7th to the 10th centuries C.E.
Source: Bet Guvrin-Maresha Nature Reserve information brochure by Israel Nature and Parks Authority
To log this Earthcache you have to fulfill the following tasks:
The coordinates of the caches are those of the parking area in front of the caves areal. Enter the areal and look for this sign. There is a second sign next to it which explains about the process of the formation of the caves.
1) What is written on this second sign?
2) In the large caves at the end of the areal you will find another sign which will help you to answer the following questions:
- How large was the diameter of the round shaft which was cut into the nari?
- How thick was the nari at this place?
- Which marks show how the shaft was enlarged?
3) Optional: take a photo here in the large caves of you and your GPS which you upload with your log.
Mail the answers via my profile and don't forget to tell me your email-adress for the logpermission. Please wait with your log until you get the permission. Logs without permission will be deleted immediateley