Caves, Fake and Genuine
That's the trouble with living somewhere like Bethlehem: you can't dig a hole in the ground without coming across something interesting.
Workmen rennovating a house near the Church of the Nativity got more than they bargained for when they dug a pit in the ground. Quite why they dug the pit I don't know - whether they were searching for oil or for somewhere to dispose of the rubble that resulted from their rennovating activites we are not told. However they had barely gone down three feet when they came across a cave.
That, in itself, is not unusual. Limestone is full of caves - usually little more than hollows in the rock - and when these are near or beneath houses the owners frequently find uses to which to put them. Larger ones are tidied up and serve as storerooms or stables, smaller ones might become cisterns or silos, if your imagination is good enough they can become a tourist attraction.
Some years ago I visited the Lebanon and wanted to film in Jeita Grotto, a cave system to the north of Beirut which you explore by boat, floating on a crystal clear stream past beautifully lit displays of stalactites and stalagmites. When I got there, however, I discovered that photography was not allowed, so in dudgeon I shook their dust off my feet and went elsewhere in search of subjects for my camera.
Later on that day, as I headed south towards Tyre, I noticed signs pointing up into the hills and proclaiming the attractions of Kfarhim - pictures of beautifully lit stalactites and stalagmites. Intrigued I followed the signs and after a dozen miles or so found myself outside a house in the middle of a village. Inside was a large room crammed with tatty souvenirs for sale and the gentleman at the till was more than happy to take my money.
As soon as I had paid he whistled up a teenage son who spoke English and who led me down a flight of stairs towards the sound of running water. As we went he gave me a lecture on the marvels of stalactites and stalagmites, how they are formed over millions of years by the slow dripping of water and so on. We turned a corner and there, stuck in a rectangular alcove and drenched with water cascading over it, was a stalagmite.
I looked closer, for it seemed somewhat rougher than those I have seen elsewhere, and discovered that it had been artfully constructed out of concrete. I grinned to myself as the young chap estimated that this one had taken three million years to form - three hours at the outside, I would have said.
Still, I couldn't resist the cheap audaciousness of the whole thing and you can see it for yourself on the NWTV website. I had to admire the spirit of enterprise that had turned a hole in the rock into a flourishing tourist attraction.
The hole discovered in Bethelehem, however, will need no such tittivation to turn it into a tourist attraction, for it proved to contain an ancient tomb filled with clay pots and plates, beads and the skeletons of two individuals. With astonishing honesty the workmen reported to the Antiquities Authority, and as this was Bethlehem, that turned out to be the Palestinian Antiquities Authority, who dated the contents of the grave to the Early Bronze Age.
Intact tombs from that period are few and far between, so Mohammed Ghayyada, director of the PAA, is thrilled by the discovery, which is expected to yield information about Canaanite customs and life.
Once the experts have finished with them, the various items will be housed in the Bethlehem Peace Centre, which is not far from where the tomb was found. I haven't come acorss the Peace Centre myself, but I shall look out for it next time I go there: it will be interesting to learn more about Bethlehem's past.
© Kendall K. Down 2009
