Bell cave. In the very center of Israel, the Bell Caves Bell Cave

Official information
Country Israel
Biblical city of the period of the Forefathers.

General information about the biblical city of Adulam

Adulam is an area in Central Israel between Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, west and northwest of the Hebron Mountains. Its name repeats the name of the one located here ancient city Adulam (Adullam, Odullom, Eglon).
The first mention of Adulam occurs during the period of the Forefathers (Genesis 38:1; Joshua 15:35). The name Adulam is also found as the name of a fortified city in the land of Canaanite, which even served as the capital of the Canaanite kings. This city was one of the oldest Canaanite settlements and lay in a lowland known as Shephelah. The city was captured by Joshua during his capture of Canaan and included in the possession of the tribe of Judah (Jehovah) (Joshua 12:15). Moreover, its coordinates are given quite accurately: 15-20 miles southeast of Jerusalem. Subsequently, the city was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chron. 11:7) and is called by the prophet Micah (1:15): the glory of Israel. " He will pass to Adollam, the glory of Israel ".
This place is also associated with the story of King David and the war with the Philistines. Adulam is repeatedly mentioned as an example of an impregnable and strong fortress. Adulam existed back in IV c., as mentioned in the books of the Maccabees and as reported by Eusebius in the Onomasticon. Adulam ceased to exist in the middle VI V. after the Arab conquest of the country. Adullam is identified with Tel ash-Sheikh Mazkur 15 km to km northeast of Bet Gavrina.
IN national park Adulam you can see two today archaeological complex- body of the ancient city Khurvat (“ruins”, “ruins”) And three and the area of ​​the settlement, ancient burials and columbariums Khurvat Midras. In Khurvat Itri, many wineries, columbariums, residential and industrial premises have been preserved. Apparently, in the period before the destruction of the Second Temple in the 1st century AD, this settlement was very large, its area exceeded 12 hectares.
"Midras" means "insole" or "sole". The settlement here existed from the Late Bronze Age (according to other sources, from the beginning of the Iron Age, c. 1000 BC) during the periods of the First ( X-VI centuries BC) and the Second(VI century BC -I c.) temples and during Byzantium (according to other sources, until the end of the Period of Roman rule, IV century AD). Some researchers believe that Khurwat Midras was one of the fortresses of King Assa (2nd Chronicles 14:7). The area of ​​the settlement, together with the burial grounds adjacent to it from the west, south and east, as well as underground reservoirs, various caves and other structures, is 25 hectares. The settlement itself occupied northern slope hill. Here there are a number of columbarium caves for raising pigeons, both for food and as a temple sacrifice, water reservoirs, a huge necropolis, which includes several different types of burials and caves. The largest is the “Bell” Cave (Mearat Ha-Pa’amon), in the wall of which begins a magnificent network of secluded shelter caves in which the warriors of Bar Kokhba hid (the uprising led by Bar Kokhba took place in the period 132-135 AD. e.).
“Mearat Ha-Pa’amon” owes its name to its bell-shaped (pa’amon) shape. Ancient builders pierced it (like other bell caves) from top to bottom. The upper entrance opening to such caves, about 3 m deep, was made in the form of a narrow neck in the hard Nari limestones. Having passed through the hard layers and entered the softer layer of chalk, the builders expanded the dungeons. The digging of the numerous bell-shaped caves characteristic of the area was apparently carried out for the sake of extracting limestone, which served as a building material. But these dungeons had other uses: housing and storage. In modern times, the ceiling of Mearat HaPa'amon around the entrance doorway has collapsed greatly.
An extensive network of secret dungeons from the period of the Bar Kochba revolt was carved into the wall of “Mearat Ha-Pa’amon”. They are a system of multi-purpose rooms connected to each other by underground manholes. You can stand in most dungeons, but you need to get from one to another on all fours. A network of secret dungeons served as a refuge for the rebels. In the area of ​​Hurwata Midras there are a large number of secret dungeons with places discovered there for storing food, oil and water.

General information about the Lusit Caves (from published sources)

The Luzit bell-shaped cave system is located about a kilometer from the settlement of the same name, near the city of Beit Shemesh in central Israel. It includes two complexes of man-made caves - the Bell and the Columbarium (the latter may have served as a dovecote). It is believed that these are the remains of a quarry from the Hellenistic period. First, building stone was mined in the Luzit caves, then the caves were used for housing, storing supplies and burying the dead. Some caves are connected by manholes.

The Kolokolnaya Cave is located within the boundaries of a specially protected natural area Chelyabinsk region— Serpievsky State Natural Complex Reserve.

Entrance to the Cave

The entrance to the cave is oriented to the south and has the shape of an arch. The cavity is of a corridor-grotto type, the main development of the passages is northwestern. The cave has several distinct grottoes with vault heights of six to eight meters and a width of five to 10 meters. At a distance of 30 meters from the entrance and further to the 70th meter, parallel to the main gallery, there is a narrow passage connected to it by several passages.

Grottoes of the Bell Cave

There are four grottoes in total: the first from the entrance is Narrow (4.5x10 m), six meters high, followed by the Round Grotto. Adjacent to it is Stalactite, which is connected to the next, last grotto of the cave - Dalniy, a 20-hectare gallery. The Far Grotto ends with a narrow opening (0.7x1 m), behind which the floor of the cave has a steep drop down. At the right wall there is a ledge with two holes up to three meters deep.

The cave ends with two dead ends, at the intersection of which a small rounded hall has formed. Calcite formations are observed only in the far part of the cave in the form of sinter crust on the walls and floor. There are also stalactites and stalagmites, as well as gourds with calcite crystals and filled with water. The total length of the cave passages is 190 meters.

Metro progress

Kolokolnaya is a corridor-grotto type cave, developing in the north-west direction, and is a gallery with a width of 2 to 5 m and a height of 1 to 6-8 m (in the grottoes). At a distance of 30 m from the entrance and further up to 70 m, parallel to the main corridor there is a Metro passage connected to the main passages. The Metro passage is quite narrow (1.2 m wide and 1 m high) and has very smooth walls and a semicircular ceiling. The floor of the passage is clay and dry. From the Metro, which is about 40 m long, three passages go to the left (to the main corridor), which are located at a distance of 2 m, 13 m, 10 m from each other. There are several clearly defined grottoes in the cave with vault heights of 6-8 m and widths from 5 to 10 m. All of them were formed at the intersection of cracks with the main gallery.

Throughout the cave, the floor is made of clay, crushed stone, and fragments of bedrock. In the Far Grotto, the floor is covered with sintered calcite bark. In the Stalactite and Far Halls there is a drop of water in the summer, and there are puddles on the floor. In winter, ice sinter formations.

In 1982-1984, the Kolokolnaya cave, along with other karst cavities in the area, was explored by an expedition of archaeologists from the Novosibirsk Institute of History, Philosophy and Philology of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences under the leadership of Candidate of Historical Sciences V. T. Petrin. In it, as well as in the Ignatievskaya Cave, they discovered several groups of drawings by ancient people of the Paleolithic era. One of the drawings is an image of a harpoon, while others require further clearing and decoding. In the summer of 1984, two more new images were discovered, made in ocher on the walls of the Krugloy and Dalny grottoes.

The cave is mostly horizontal along its entire length. The total length of the passages is 268 m; total depth of the cave is 7 m; the average width of passages is 3.2 m.

Bell Caves located in the very center of Israel. These caves are a man-made wonder of the world. There are about 80 in total large caves similar to a bell. These caves are located in Beit Guvrin National Park. Bell caves appeared as a result of limestone mining in the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. This extensive network of caves is similar to miracle city underground with amazingly clean air and amazing acoustics.

This amazing shape was formed thanks to the mining method, in which they first drilled a hole with a diameter of about a meter from above, and then widened the channel, approaching soft rocks. Such forms have survived to this day. This method of extraction was well thought out. This technology maintained the necessary moisture to facilitate extraction.

Now the sunlight comes through the top holes and illuminates everything inside. amazing light. There is information that these caves were previously used for meetings of the early Christians. In some caves, images of crosses were found on the rocks, reminiscent of Templar symbols. Currently, chamber orchestras hold concerts in the caves. Most often, such performances are organized during Easter week. The halls of these caves not only look like bells. They also took from them the properties of storing energy and preserving acoustics.

Caves are located near Jerusalem. If you go by car, the journey will take 20-30 minutes. These caves are concentrated in small areas in huge quantities. The number of holes in the ground is sometimes up to one hundred. When expanding, such channels merge into one large cave.

The caves are remarkable because they contain traces of several eras of human development. After quarries, caves began to be used as columbariums. This is the room where pigeons were bred, both homing pigeons and for food and sacrifices. Inscriptions from different times have been preserved on the walls. Currently, the caves are popular with rock climbing enthusiasts.

Since the end of the 18th century, the descendants of the first settlers have lived in a special way of life in the Old Believer village of Serpievka. It's on Southern Urals, in Katav-Ivanovsky district.

Local residents, out of habit, are wary of strangers and keep memories of those times when services were held away from prying eyes in one of the many caves here - Kolokolnaya. The entrance to the cave really looks like a bell. Underground services took place until the 30s of the 20th century. The natural shelter helped local residents keep secrets in order to avoid reprisals, of which there were many against the Old Believers at all times. Local residents invented a whole system of conventional signals. A special cord was hidden at the entrance to the cave.

It was connected to a bell in one of the distant halls. Only the Old Believers were initiated into this secret. When entering the cave, they rang the bell. If footsteps were heard, but the bell was silent, then a stranger had come and an urgent need to hide.

Length Kolokolnaya caves 190 meters. In addition to the main passage, there are several branches and secret holes hidden from random people. No one conducted special experiments, but old-timers claim that fifty people could easily hide in the back streets and remain unnoticed here. One of the small halls of the cave is called a cell. A bench and a sofa stand here, washed in the rock with water and then processed by human hands. They lived in this room, hiding from the royal authorities. However, the Old Believers were far from the first people to appreciate the space Bell Cave. Washing away the soot and soot left by the torches, scientists discovered drawings made with red ocher on the stones. Radiocarbon dating determined that the age of these drawings is 14.5 thousand years. Here preparations for the initiation rite took place. Boys had to pass tests of courage and courage and prove that they were worthy of bearing the title of man. This was an important stage in the life of every member of the tribe.

At the same time, when entering the cave, the boys could not use a torch or a torch, but remained in complete darkness. They moved around, apparently finding by touch some signs placed for them. Each boy had to bring out a stone with a sign as proof of his courage and show it to the leader.

Ancient runes were discovered in Kolokolnaya.

It is considered one of the most beautiful in the Southern Urals. Water enriched with minerals penetrates here through the thickness of the earth, flows along the walls and forms amazingly beautiful patterns, bizarre lines, graceful curves. This a natural phenomenon experts call them calcite rivers. People with a rich imagination will be able to see a panther in the cave. She seemed to freeze, listening to what was happening. And you come from the other side and the panther will turn into a cobra. There is also a rhinoceros and guards and a bull's head. These are all calcite formations.

Ignatievskaya Cave

Ignatevskaya Cave is the oldest art gallery of primitive man. The cave is located in the Katav-Ivanovsky district, near the village of Serpievka.

Ignatievskaya Cave is dry and easy to visit. A wide but low entrance leads inside from the arched entrance grotto. From it you enter the main gallery of the Pillar, more than 130 meters long, which leads to the grotto of the Pillar, from which you can get to the far grotto on the “second floor”, called the “Cell of Elder Ignatius”.

The Ignatievskaya cave (Yamazy-Tash in Bashkir) is small in size (the total length of the passages is 540 m), two-story, known since the middle of the last century and has been examined several times. But only in 1980, in its distant grottoes, under a layer of soot and inscriptions of modern “savages”, drawings were discovered ancient man, applied with red ocher. Unlike the painting of the Kapova Cave, in Ignatievskaya it is not clear silhouettes that predominate, but conventional figures in the form of lines and spots of paint, which were made approximately 15-16 thousand years ago.

One of the most famous caves Russia, Ignatievskaya Cave has a rich and mysterious history. It is located on the right bank of the Sim River, 7 km downstream from the village of Serpievka, Katav-Ivanovsky district. The cave was declared a cultural monument, first of regional and then of federal significance, and this is not surprising. It is here that the “picture gallery” of ancient people of the Paleolithic era is located - about 40 groups of drawings in total.

This rock painting, according to experts, is already 14 thousand years old. On the walls there are quite realistic depictions of bulls, mammoths, scenes of their hunting, as well as geometric symbols that have not yet been deciphered. At one time the cave was sacred place for ancient people, a kind of temple. There are only three similar caves with Paleolithic drawings of ancient people in Russia: Kapova in Bashkiria, Ignatievskaya and Kolokolnaya near the village. Serpievka in the Chelyabinsk region.

Another feature of the Ignatievskaya Cave is the many traditions and legends associated with it. It is believed that for a long time An old hermit named Ignatius lived here in solitude - the cave was named after him. What kind of person this was is a mystery, however, there are rumors that it was Emperor Alexander I, who exchanged the throne for the peace and quiet of a hermit. According to another legend, the elder was not the emperor himself, but his brother, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich.

Bell Cave

The cave is located in the Katav-Ivanovsky district of the Chelyabinsk region near the village of Serpievka (1.5 km southeast of the village) 300 m downstream of the river. Sim (on the right bank) from the bridge on the Katav-Ivanovsk highway - the village of Serpievka and 50 m from the Mayskaya cave. The cave is built in dense light gray limestone of Devonian age. The entrance to the cave is oriented to the South-East, has the shape of an arch 3 m high and 4 m wide. It is located at an altitude of 11 m above the river level. 5.5 m after the entrance, the roof of the cave decreases. The corridor-grotto type cave, developing in the North-West direction, is a gallery with a width of 2 to 5 m and a height of 1 to 6-8 m (in grottoes). At a distance of 30 m from the entrance and further up to 70 m, parallel to the main corridor there is a passage - “Metro”, connected to the main passages. The "Metro" passage is quite narrow - 1.2 m wide and 1 m high and has very smooth walls and a semicircular ceiling. The floor of the passage is clay and dry. From the “Metro”, which is about 40 m long, there are three passages to the left into the main corridor, which are located at a distance of 2 m, 13 m, 10 m from each other. In the cave there are several clearly defined grottoes with vault heights of 6 - 8 m and widths from 5 to 10 m. All of them were formed at the intersection of cracks with the main gallery. In total, there are four halls in the cave:

1st from the entrance - “Narrow” - 4.5 X 10 m and up to 6 m high.

2nd from the entrance - "Round"

3rd from the entrance - "Stalactite" - 20 X 8 X 4 m.

4th from the entrance - "Far" - 9 X 8 X 5 m.

Connecting with the main passage, the "Metro" forms the "Stalactite" hall, which is connected to the "Dalny" hall by a 20-meter gallery. At the entrance to “Dalny” there is an organ pipe up to 10 m high. On the right, to the side of the hall there are small gours, cave pearls, small pebbles. Two narrow walkways, up to 0.8 m wide, lead out of the hall to the left. There are active gours in front of the walkways. Both walkways are connected through 15 m into one corridor 5 wide m., 10 m long and 1.2 m high. There are three lakes in the left walkway. There are sinter formations on the walls, many of which have been broken off. In the same passage, 7 m from the hall, there is an organ pipe 2.5 m high, which also has many chips. The corridor rises by 30? and ends with two dead ends that form a rounded grotto. One of the dead ends is directed to the west, and the other is directed to the east. In the western dead end, the dimensions of which are 3 X 1.2 X 1.4 m, the walls and ceiling are covered with mondmilch (moon milk). On the left is a stalagmite - there are inscriptions on the walls. In the eastern dead end, whose dimensions are 5 X 2 X 1.3 m, there are sinter formations and many chips. On the right is a stalagnate. Throughout the cave, the floor is made of clay, crushed stone, and fragments of bedrock. In the “Far” grotto, the floor is covered with sintered calcite bark. The walls of the cave are smooth, in places corroded by the water flows that once existed here. In the “Stalactite” and “Dalniy” grottoes, there is a drop of water in the summer, and there are puddles on the floor. In winter there are icy sinter formations. The cave once had calcite decorations - sinter crusts, stalactites, stalagmites. Currently, they are preserved in the Stalactite grotto, but are significantly smoked by torches and chipped. According to stories local residents Religious ceremonies were performed in this cave, which is why it was called “Bell”. The cave is mostly horizontal along its entire length.