The beautiful 'Bell Caves' of Beit Guvrin. The 60 ft tall gigantic cave complex is one of about 800 bell-shaped caves located in the area. It served as a quarry that supplied building materials to Beit Guvrin during the 7th century AD. See also the hole at the top of the cave through which the quarry was removed. Thanks to its wonderful acoustics, the Bell Caves host concerts and private celebrations.

Views from Beit Guvrin National Park. Look for the modern Kibbutz Beit Guvrin (est. 1949) in 1P and 2P. Arab village 'Beit Jibrin' existed before the Kibbutz was established. I have to confirm if the building in 7P and 8P are remains of an Arab house in Beit Jibrin.

The picturesque remains of the Crusader Church (11th to 12th cent AD) of St. Anne (Mother of Virgin Mary) in Beit Guvrin. The Church was built on the foundation of an earlier Byzantine Church (4th to 5th Cent. AD). The church inspired the Arab name for Bet Guvrin, "Sandahanna." (Saint Anna)!

The Sidonian Burial Caves (3rd cent BC onwards) in Beit Guvrin. Includes the "Tomb of Apollophanes"-the leader of Beit Guvrin's Sidonian community and the "Tomb of the Musicians". The current paintings are modern repaintings (1993) on the old designs. There are 41 rock chambers inside the 'Tomb of Apollophanes' which was in use till 1st Cent. BC.

Enlarge the snap below for more details and don't miss the description on the animals.

 "Tomb  of Apollophanes"

Some of the animals depicted are mythical and some are real.

"Tomb of the Musicians"

A few random snaps from Beit Guvrin National Park.

Tel Lachish-site of ancient biblical city of Lachish. Photos taken from a moving Egged Bus.

Lachish is one of the most strategic cities mentioned in Bible and sometimes considered even second to Jerusalem in biblical Israel. It protected one of the approaches to Jerusalem. Lachish is mentioned 24 times in the KJV bible. Biblical association of Lachish starts when Joshua conquers it from the Canaanites (Joshua 10:3). Canaanites built Lachish as one of the mightiest cities in Israel with a wall, ramp and a moat. Later the Assyrian King Sennacherib conquered Lachish in 701 BC.

The Assyrian siege and invasion of Lachish was so important that the event is not only described in the Annals of King Sennacherib but also was depicted on the walls of his palace at Nineveh. He devoted an entire room of his huge palace to this historic event. For nearly 2,500 years the palace lay buried and forgotten until it was discovered by a British archaeologist in 1847. He found in the walls of the room, an 8 feet tall and 80 feet long pictorial relief solely dedicated to the capture of Lachish!

The relief of Lachish is still considered as one of the top ten archaeological discoveries related to Bible. Most importantly, the siege of Lachish is one of the few events in Bible (II Kings 18; II Chronicles 32) attested by multiple non-Biblical sources from the same period. Modern excavations at the site have also revealed the existence of a ramp built by Assyrians, approximately 1,500 skulls and hundreds of arrowheads indicating the ferocity of the battle. The Lachish relief is now in British Museum.

"As for Hezekiah the Judahite, who did not submit to my yoke: forty-six of his strong, walled cities, as well as the small towns in their area, which were without number, by levelling with battering-rams and by bringing up seige-engines, and by attacking and storming on foot, by mines, tunnels, and breeches, I besieged and took them. 200,150 people, great and small, male and female, horses, mules, asses, camels, cattle and sheep without number, I brought away from them and counted as spoil"-records the 'Prism of Sennacherib'.

I have been earlier to Lachish (April 2009) and these are the snaps taken while returning from Beit Guvrin on a moving bus.
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